The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Christopher A. Engel, 34, formerly of Glen Rock, Pennsylvania, and currently residing in Washington, Utah, was sentenced in connection with his operation of Pinnacle Forex Group (“PFG”), LLC, a currency trading firm that he operated from his home in Glen Rock.

United States District Court Judge Yvette Kane sentenced Engel to 38 months’ imprisonment, $405,500 in restitution and two years’ supervised release. Engel was ordered to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on August 18, 2014.

According to U.S. Attorney Peter Smith, Engel created PFG in 2010 and advertised it on the Internet as “a full scale currency investment firm” that was “in the top 1% of currency traders.” Between June 2011 and October 2012, Engel allegedly received $411,500 from 21 investors throughout the United States that was supposed to be invested in the Foreign Exchange Market (“Forex”). Engel admitted he only invested $137,000 of the money into the Forex market and later withdrew those funds for personal expenses. The remaining funds were never invested and also used by Engel for personal expenses.

The case was investigated by the FBI and was prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Bruce Brandler.