CHICAGO—A former floor trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange who later conducted spot foreign exchange trading in Florida was sentenced today to three years in federal prison for a fraud scheme in which he concealed trading losses and inflated investment returns that caused 47 investors to lose approximately $2.3 million. The defendant, Mark Adrian, was employed as a consultant at the bankrupt Avidus Trading Inc. in Boca Raton, which conducted foreign exchange (FOREX) trading at its discretion for investors. Adrian was responsible for communicating with an investment group in Chicago that solicited and pooled individuals’ investment funds for Avidus. These investors and others lost savings, retirement, and other funds as a result of the fraud scheme.
Adrian, 54, of Delray Beach, Florida, and formerly of Chicago, was ordered to start serving his 36-month prison term on January 7, 2013. U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo also ordered Adrian to pay $2.3 million in restitution. Adrian pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in October 2010.
According to his plea agreement, between July 2006 and October 2008, Avidus’ trading was not profitable and resulted in the $2.3 million loss for investors. Adrian concealed the losses in order for Avidus to retain the investors’ business. He prepared and sent false monthly spreadsheets concealing the losses to the investment group in Chicago, knowing that it would report the false information to other investors. Adrian also hid the losses from other employees at Avidus by creating fake brokerage statements that showed an inflated balance for client funds that were on deposit with the broker.
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