# Minnesota Federal Court Orders Minnesota Man Charles E. Hays and His Company, Crossfire Trading, LLC, to Pay More than $84 Million in Disgorgement and Civil Monetary Penalties in Connection with Multi-Million Dollar Commodity Pool Ponzi Scheme

> CFTC release 5978-11 · 2011-02-03 · **Ponzi scheme** · ENFORCEMENT

## Key facts

- **Release number:** 5978-11
- **Release date:** 2011-02-03
- **Type:** Ponzi scheme
- **Title:** Minnesota Federal Court Orders Minnesota Man Charles E. Hays and His Company, Crossfire Trading, LLC, to Pay More than $84 Million in Disgorgement and Civil Monetary Penalties in Connection with Multi-Million Dollar Commodity Pool Ponzi Scheme
- **Primary source:** https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/5978-11

## What this is

CFTC enforcement actions cover derivatives + commodities + crypto fraud cases. The Commission charges market participants under the Commodity Exchange Act for spoofing, manipulation, fraud, wash trades, registration violations, and pool-operator misconduct. Most actions settle with restitution + civil money penalty + a bar/suspension.


## Citation

> US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, press release 5978-11, "Minnesota Federal Court Orders Minnesota Man Charles E. Hays and His Company, Crossfire Trading, LLC, to Pay More than $84 Million in Disgorgement and Civil Monetary Penalties in Connection with Multi-Million Dollar Commodity Pool Ponzi Scheme", 2011-02-03. Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-07-20 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/cftc-action/5978-11.

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