Overview
- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a civil complaint on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, against Trevor L. Vernon and Argent Capital Management LLC in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
- The CFTC alleges Vernon and his firm solicited more than $14 million from at least 60 participants between March 2022 and February 2026 to run a commodity pool that traded equity index futures, options, and crypto assets.
- The complaint says the defendants sent fabricated monthly and quarterly performance reports that hid ‘‘consistent and catastrophic’’ trading losses and used new investor money to pay existing participants in a Ponzi-like manner.
- Agency filings and reporting allege trading losses of roughly $8.6 million and claim some pool funds were misused for payments to participants and personal expenses, while the defendants also failed to register as required and gave false sworn testimony during the CFTC probe.
- The case remains a civil enforcement action seeking restitution, disgorgement, monetary penalties, permanent trading and registration bans, and an injunction, and the defendants will have the opportunity to answer and contest the charges in federal court.