TL;DR:
According to a federal CFTC consent order released yesterday, SimTradePro Incorporated and its main guy, Robert L. Adams, solicited more than $2.3 million from over 100 U.S. retail customers (many saving for retirement btw) into leveraged foreign exchange and metals “pools,” promised 65% annual returns, operated as unregistered commodity pool operators and trading advisors, secretly siphoned at least $185,000 in undisclosed introducing-broker fees from client trades, misrepresented trading risks and gold losses, and ultimately returned only about 13% of customer funds.
This case is a small but telling illustration of how neoliberal capitalism and corporate greed convert the hopes of ordinary people into a one-way transfer of wealth upward towards the 1%.
What follows digs into how it worked, who was hurt, and why it matters for corporate accountability and the well-being of society.
Table of Contents
- The Corporate Shell Game Behind SimTradePro
- The Corporate Misconduct Alleged Against SimTradePro
- Allegations of Misconduct and Timeline of What Went Wrong
- Economic Fallout, Wealth Disparity, and the Mechanics of Corporate Greed
- Corporate Social Responsibility, Public Health, and Social Trust
The Corporate Shell Game Behind SimTradePro
SimTradePro Inc appears as a modest Oregon corporation with a reassuring sales pitch: pool “ordinary funds” into sophisticated leveraged trading strategies, and watch retirement money grow at an advertised 65% annual return. In practice, the court’s findings show something closer to a shell game executed under the banner of corporate ethics and “opportunity”… a case study in how neoliberal capitalism invites risky schemes that privatize gains and socialize losses.
From at least February 2018 to April 2019, SimTradePro operated at least six investment pools in leveraged foreign exchange and metals for over 100 U.S. customers, most of them non-wealthy, non-professional investors.
Few had meaningful experience with these complex markets; many were planning for retirement and used custodians recommended by the very firm that ultimately lost their money.
At the center was a familiar pattern: elaborate marketing about “expert advisors” and algorithmic strategies; a promise that the firm’s compensation would align with investor success; and behind the curtain, undisclosed fees extracted trade by trade, regardless of whether investors profited or lost.
The Corporate Misconduct Alleged Against SimTradePro
Deceptive Compensation and Undisclosed Fees
SimTradePro told customers that it would earn money through:
- A one-time $3,000 “origination” or enrollment fee; and
- A quarterly “high water” performance fee of 5% of profits that was charged only if the pools were profitable.
Participants were explicitly told there were “no other fees” and that “there are NEVER any fees if [the strategy] doesn’t make money,” apart from bank fees not controlled by the firm.
In reality, SimTradePro and an associate arranged for the Irish trading platform to charge per-trade introducing-broker (IB) fees directly out of customer accounts and then split those fees (totaling at least $185,000) with the associate. These fees were drawn from client funds on more than 35,000 trades, profitable or not.
This was not merely sloppy disclosure; it was a deliberate scheme that turned a supposedly aligned fee structure into a guaranteed income stream for the operator, even while investors endured heavy losses.
Misleading Risk Claims and Trading Narratives
SimTradePro marketed three main strategies named “Steady Capture,” “Test Test/Flash Forward,” and “Argo” as vehicles for steady, high returns with minimal risk:
- “Steady Capture” was called the “crown jewel of the forex world” and “never loses money,” with a risk of ruin described as nearly zero.
- After losses, customers were pushed into “Test Test,” then “Flash Forward,” pitched as a “no brainer” and the “fastest way” to make back losses.
- When those failed, “Argo,” an algorithmic “bot” strategy, was sold as having eight years of consistent growth and average annual gains of 29%.
Yet none of these strategies delivered. The firm eventually closed the trading accounts and returned only about 13% of customer funds.
Throughout, SimTradePro repeatedly presented simulated returns without the required regulatory warnings about hypothetical performance another way of dressing wishful thinking as proven track record.
Operating Outside the Regulatory Perimeter
According to the order, SimTradePro operated as:
- An unregistered commodity pool operator (CPO);
- An unregistered commodity trading advisor (CTA); and
- Through Adams, an unregistered associated person (AP) of an introducing broker.
This meant the firm exploited the authority and trust of a regulated-seeming operation without accepting the baseline responsibilities of corporate social responsibility built into the registration and disclosure regime.
Allegations of Misconduct and Timeline of What Went Wrong
The corporate misconduct unfolded in stages that are depressingly typical of financial fraud in a deregulated environment.
Timeline of What Went Wrong (According to the CFTC)
| Date / Period | Event | Corporate Misconduct Dimension | Impact on Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 1, 2015 | SimTradePro Incorporated registered in Oregon, with Adams as incorporator and agent. | Corporate structure created to pool funds into leveraged trading. | Sets stage for later misuse of the corporate vehicle. |
| Feb 2018 | SimTradePro begins operating at least six commodity pools, soliciting U.S. retail customers for leveraged forex and metals trades with a 65% annual return target. | High-risk products marketed to inexperienced, mostly non-wealthy investors. | Over $2.3 million ultimately invested by more than 100 customers. |
| Jan–Feb 2018 | “Steady Capture” strategy loses money; SimTradePro pivots to “Test Test,” pitched as a “no brainer” recovery strategy with “phenomenal” short-term returns, and claims of no extra fees. | Misleading marketing and minimization of risk; promise of no additional fees. | Investors are nudged deeper into risk to recover losses. |
| Feb 19, 2018 | Associate signs IB agreement with the Irish broker; IB fees to be withdrawn from customer trades and later split with SimTradePro, undisclosed to clients. | Secret fee arrangement contradicts prior representations about compensation. | Every trade—profit or loss—now generates revenue for the operator. |
| Mar 8, 2018 | IB fee withdrawals from customer accounts begin under the new arrangement. | Hidden extraction of at least $185,000 from client funds. | Investor returns are depressed while operator income is protected. |
| Apr 26, 2018 | Webinar assures investors there are no fees until new profits; on the same day, IB fees are wired from the Irish broker to the associate and shared with Adams. | Direct contradiction between public statements and actual compensation flows. | Trust further exploited; investors kept in the dark as losses and fee drains mount. |
| July 2018 | Portfolio is heavily shifted into leveraged gold trades; SimTradePro later claims losses occurred before new stop-loss rules, and that the broker, not they, closed positions. | Misrepresentations and omissions about timing and control of trades; concealment of SimTradePro’s role in closing positions. | Gold losses account for a large share of portfolio destruction; investors misled about what happened. |
| July 2018 | Amid gold losses, SimTradePro pushes investors into “Argo,” presented as an algorithmic system with eight years of consistent growth and 29% average returns. | Hypothetical performance touted without required warnings; past failures rebranded as temporary setbacks. | Investors are persuaded to remain and “recover,” rather than cut losses. |
| Dec 2018–Jan 2019 | Pools are wound down; accounts closed; about 13% of customer funds returned. | Effective collapse of the investment scheme. | Majority of invested retirement savings lost. |
| Apr 29, 2019 | Closure email states SimTradePro covered overhead expenses, with no disclosure of IB fees taken from customer funds. | Final misrepresentation about who really financed operations. | Losses normalized; hidden fee extraction never voluntarily disclosed. |
This is a sustained pattern of misrepresentation and concealment, enabled by a corporate shell that insulated decision-makers while exposing small investors.
Economic Fallout, Wealth Disparity, and the Mechanics of Corporate Greed
The quantified harm is stark:
- More than $2.3 million solicited from over 100 U.S. retail customers, many with little investment experience and planning for retirement.
- Only about 13% of customer funds returned after the pools were closed.
- At least $185,000 siphoned as undisclosed IB fees directly out of client trades, regardless of performance!
In economic terms, this is a direct contribution to wealth disparity: capital flows upward from ordinary savers to a tightly controlled corporate structure and its insiders. The firm’s communications repeatedly framed itself as sharing the same risks as its clients (they said shit like quote “I don’t make any [fees] either so it’s just as important to me as it is to our members”) even as it profited from every trade through hidden fees.
Within the ideology of neoliberal capitalism, this is called innovation and “access” to sophisticated markets. But for the small investor, it functions as a wealth extraction machine that compounds inequality. The supposed corporate social responsibility to act as a steward of clients’ savings was replaced by an incentive structure that rewarded volume, churn, and opacity.
This case also demonstrates how corporate greed expresses itself not only in headline corporate giants but also in mid-tier financial operators, using opaque structures and foreign platforms to escape scrutiny while presenting themselves as trusted guides to prosperity.
Corporate Social Responsibility, Public Health, and Social Trust
The CFTC’s consent order is written in the technical language of financial regulation, but its social meaning is wider. When retirement savings vanish into schemes like this, the impact reverberates beyond individual account statements:
- People work longer, delay retirement, and face higher economic insecurity.
- Social trust in markets, regulators, and the financial system erodes.
- The broader public health environment is affected, as financial precarity is widely associated with stress, instability, and reduced well-being.
SimTradePro’s corporate misconduct (which again is operating unregistered, hiding fee structures, and misrepresenting risk) runs directly counter to any serious conception of corporate ethics.
It’s a form of corporate corruption that contaminates the financial ecosystem, much as physical corporate pollution contaminates air or water. The result is a civic atmosphere in which people reasonably conclude that the game is rigged.
The CFTC’s press release on this corporate misconduct can be found here: https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/9148-25
💡 Explore Corporate Misconduct by Category
Corporations harm people every day — from wage theft to pollution. Learn more by exploring key areas of injustice.
- 💀 Product Safety Violations — When companies risk lives for profit.
- 🌿 Environmental Violations — Pollution, ecological collapse, and unchecked greed.
- 💼 Labor Exploitation — Wage theft, worker abuse, and unsafe conditions.
- 🛡️ Data Breaches & Privacy Abuses — Misuse and mishandling of personal information.
- 💵 Financial Fraud & Corruption — Lies, scams, and executive impunity.
