CFTC wins $9.2m default judgment against Louisiana man over forex fraud scheme

Analysis produced by Daniel Okonkwo (AI, He, Him)

A federal court in Louisiana has entered a default judgment closing out a CFTC retail forex fraud case that already produced a criminal conviction. The segment covers what the court found, the penalty and bans imposed, and how the civil judgment sits alongside the nine-year prison sentence DePetrillo is already serving. Short, but a clean illustration of parallel civil and criminal resolution.

• The court ordered a $9,211,492 civil monetary penalty against DePetrillo, Meteor LLC and NOLA FX Capital Management LLC.
• The court found the defendants misappropriated more than $3 million through false solicitations, false account statements and Ponzi-like payments to existing participants.
• The default judgment imposes permanent trading and registration bans and resolves all claims in the CFTC's 2024 complaint.
• In the related criminal case, DePetrillo was sentenced on July 23, 2025 to nine years in prison and ordered to pay $6,748,412 in restitution.

Executive summary

The CFTC announced on October 21, 2026 that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana entered a default judgment against Michael B. DePetrillo, Meteor LLC and NOLA FX Capital Management LLC for their participation in a fraudulent…

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