North Suburban Trader Facing Federal Criminal Charge for Allegedly Defrauding Investors

CHICAGO — A north suburban trader has been charged with fraud for allegedly misappropriating at least $750,000 from investors.

RICHARD D. CARTER, 49, of Mundelein, was charged in a federal criminal complaint with one count of wire fraud.  He was arrested Tuesday and made an initial court appearance that day before U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez.  Judge Valdez ordered him released on a $50,000 unsecured bond.  The next court date in U.S. District Court in Chicago has not yet been set.

Carter worked as a trader at Blue Guru Trading LLC, a Lincolnshire firm that claimed to specialize in trading futures contracts.  According to the charges, Carter advised existing and potential clients that his firm’s proprietary trading model was profitable, and he furnished account statements and other documentation that purportedly showed significant returns on investments.  In reality, Carter had falsified the documents to conceal the fact that he misappropriated much of the money, according to the complaint.

The complaint was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Jeffrey S. Sallet, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which earlier this year filed a civil enforcement lawsuit against Carter, provided assistance.

According to the complaint, the fraud scheme began in June 2016 and continued to January of this year.  Carter allegedly told clients their investments would be traded through a clearinghouse called Straits Financial, and he sent some of them Straits Financial account statements showing that Carter’s firm held a balance of more than $6.1 million.  Carter had actually created the statements himself, knowing that Blue Guru held only $9,000 in investor funds, the complaint states.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 

Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew S. Ebert.