He Promised 1,200% Returns on $10M - Then Used Photoshop to Hide the Truth

Source: CryptoNewsNet Original Title: He Promised 1,200% Returns on $10M - Then Used Photoshop to Hide the Truth Original Link: https://cryptonews.net/news/security/32297866/ The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a civil complaint against Travis Ford and his company, Wolf Capital Crypto Trading, accusing them of operating a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment pool that misled investors and misappropriated funds.

The complaint alleges Ford and Wolf Capital collected at least $10.1 million from more than 3,376 participants between October 2022 and December 2024 through an unregistered commodity pool. Investors deposited stablecoins into a smart contract on the Ethereum blockchain after being promised daily returns ranging from 1% to 3.5%, which would translate to annual returns between 365% and 1,277.5%.

Trading Losses Masked by Fabricated Reports

Ford told investors he would generate returns by trading Bitcoin, Ethereum, and cryptocurrency futures using both manual trading and automated bots. He positioned himself as an experienced trader who made “a small fortune” trading oil during the COVID-19 pandemic, though regulators say he had little actual experience trading digital assets and lost money on oil company stocks.

According to the complaint, Ford posted only profitable trades to Wolf Capital’s Telegram and Discord channels while hiding losing trades from investors. Between February and July 2023, Ford shared 72 trade results from one exchange showing profits of $3.5 million, but exchange records revealed he actually executed 422 trades during that period with total losses of $869,254, an overstatement of more than $4.3 million.

Ford later admitted to using Photoshop to create fake trade screenshots and portfolio values that showed profits where none existed. The falsified reports gave investors the impression that their funds were growing, even as Wolf Capital’s actual assets had dwindled to around $3,000 by August 2023.

Ponzi Scheme Funded Withdrawals

When trading losses made it impossible to pay promised returns, Ford began using new investor deposits to pay existing investors. The CFTC has pursued several major Ponzi schemes in recent years, including cases involving $145 million in forex trading fraud.

Ford admitted in July 2023 that Wolf Capital paid out $2.4 million in returns that didn’t come from trading profits but from other participants’ deposits. After the scheme collapsed, Ford attempted to reduce daily returns twice—first from 2% to 1.5% in April 2023, then to 1.1% in June 2023, before halting all operations in July 2023.

Despite promising investors they could withdraw funds after a 60-day lockup period, most participants never received their initial deposits back. Ford continued encouraging investors to leave their money in the smart contract with promises of recovering losses through future trading and business ventures that never materialized.

Registration Violations and Criminal Conviction

Neither Ford nor Wolf Capital ever registered with the CFTC as a commodity pool operator or associated person, as required by law. The commission’s enforcement action follows a pattern of pursuing unregistered commodity pool operators, with one Texas case resulting in $13 million in sanctions.

Ford pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud on Jan. 9, 2025, in related criminal proceedings. He was sentenced on Nov. 13, 2024, to five years in prison and ordered to pay monetary relief. In his guilty plea, Ford admitted he “did not believe those investment returns were possible to achieve consistently” and made false statements intending to induce people to invest or remain invested in Wolf Capital.

The CFTC’s civil complaint seeks restitution, disgorgement of profits, civil monetary penalties, and permanent bans preventing Ford and Wolf Capital from trading or registering with the agency.

The case shares similarities with other cryptocurrency-related fraud prosecutions, including a $31 million penalty imposed in a forex and crypto fraud case and charges brought against a crypto-forex scheme involving artificial intelligence claims.

Wolf Capital operated as a sole proprietorship until April 2023, when Ford organized it as an Oklahoma limited liability company. The entity is currently listed as “Inactive” on the Oklahoma Secretary of State website.