WASHINGTON — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a consent order imposing a permanent injunction and equitable remedies against Ross Baldwin and his inactive Florida firm National Coin Broker, Inc. The court previously entered a default judgment order against Robert Jeffrey Johnson, Kathleen Hook, Precious Commodities Inc., and NCB Wholesale Co.

Under the consent order and the prior default judgement order, the respective defendants are required to pay, jointly and severally, a combined $6,923,919 in restitution. Defendants in the default judgement order are also required to pay a $11.5 million civil monetary penalty. 

Both court orders permanently bar all the defendants from further violating the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations, as charged, and impose trading and registration bans against all the defendants.

The orders stem from a fraudulent scheme that ran from approximately June 2014 through at least October 2019, when the defendants solicited millions of dollars in cash and silver from the public through a purported precious metals leasing program known as the Silver Lease Program.

These rulings resolve the CFTC’s July 1, 2021, enforcement action. [See CFTC Press Release No. 8401-21]

Related Criminal Action

In a related criminal action involving the same conduct, Johnson pleaded guilty to wire fraud; Hook pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud; and Baldwin pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud and one count of making false statements to CFTC officials. [United States v. Johnson et al., 21 Cr. 428 (S.D.N.Y.)].

The CFTC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the FBI, the U.S. Mint, and the UK Financial Conduct Authority.

The CFTC cautions that orders requiring repayment of funds to victims may not result in the recovery of any money lost because the wrongdoers may not have sufficient funds or assets. The CFTC will continue to fight vigorously for the protection of customers and to ensure the wrongdoers are held accountable.

The Division of Enforcement staff responsible for this action are Patrick Daly, Karin Roth, Christopher Giglio, Michael Cazakoff, R. Stephen Painter Jr., Lenel Hickson Jr., and Charles Marvine.

CFTC’s Precious Metals Customer Fraud Advisory

The CFTC has issued several customer-protection fraud advisories, including the Precious Metals Fraud Advisory, which alerts customers to precious metals fraud and lists simple ways to spot precious metals scams.

The CFTC also strongly urges the public to verify a company’s registration with the CFTC at NFA BASIC before committing funds. If unregistered, a customer should be wary of providing funds to that entity.

Report suspicious activities or information, such as possible violations of commodity trading laws to the Division of Enforcement via a toll-free hotline 866-FON-CFTC (866-366-2382) or file a tip or complaint online or contact the Whistleblower Office. Whistleblowers are eligible to receive between 10 and 30 percent of the monetary sanctions collected, paid from the Customer Protection Fund financed through monetary sanctions paid to the CFTC by violators of the CEA.