The CFTC has ordered Kay Yang, from Mequon, Wisconsin, and her two companies (AK Equity Group LLC and Xapphire LLC) to obey a court-ordered punishment and never break the law again.
In June, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin ordered Yang, AK Equity, and Xapphire to pay a total of $24,482,326.20 to victims they fraudulently scammed. They were asked to pay a restitution of $13,692,690.27 plus a civil penalty of $10,387,635.91. Yang’s husband, Chao Yang of Mequon, Wisconsin, was also asked to pay $1,422,430.42 in disgorgement.
The order prohibits Yang, AK Equity, and Xapphire from ever engaging in activities that break the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA). It likewise forbids them from signing up with the CFTC or trading in any markets the CFTC monitors.
The order concludes Yang is guilty of swindling in retail forex transactions, acting fraudulently as a (CPO) and an aide of a CPO, and registration violations. Furthermore, it finds that Chao Yang got $1.4 million as a result of dishonesty.
From April 2017 to March 2020, Yang, who was the founder and chief executive of AK Equity and Xapphire, got around $15.7 million from nearly 67 people and organizations with the help of a fraudulent strategy. Most of the participants belonged to the Hmong community in Wisconsin.
Yang lied and omitted facts while taking the money. Additionally, she misused around $4.8 million of the funds taken from the pool participants. These funds were spent on personal expenses such as nearly $1.4 million at casinos, luxury hotels and cars.
