We recently reported on the closure of Fast Track Trading where funds from the company appeared to be misappropriated by the CEO, Scott Trieste. The firm saw a very dramatic rise in popularity thanks to their too-good-to-be-true offering and aggressive marketing.
This of course didn’t last long and the company imploded last month.
In this article, I’m going to explain what is going on with the lawsuit and where you can keep up to date with it’s progress.
Who are the Traders Advocacy Coalition?
The Trader Advocacy Coalition is a non-profit group set up after the collapse of Fast Track Trading with the goal of recouping funds of traders affected by FTT.
They have employed council from Koutoulas Law, LLC and Lowenstein Sander to bring the case to FTT.
At present they are building up a warchest with donations being made by various figures in the futures trading industry such as YouTube Futures trader, Pat Wieland and My Funded Futures CEO, Matthew Leech. At time of writing around $22k has been raised.
You can follow updates on X by following P JAY and Daniel Hussey who appear to be leading the charge.
You can also donate to TAC via their GoFundMe page.
What Can we Expect From the Lawsuit – Cant he Just Close the LLC?
Incorporating a business into a LLC limits the personal liability of it’s owner, even in the case of lawsuits. That said, there are some circumstances in which the wronged party can sue the owner of the LLC directly, this is called “Piercing the Corporate Veil”.
The main avenue for this is if the owner has committed fraud or misused company funds for personal gain.
But didn’t Scott Trieste post every time he bought a new supercar on the FTT discord?
Yes, Scott posted several updates to his community of pricey supercars and luxury watches which were assumed to be paid for by the income from the FTT traders. This left no money left to pay the traders their earned profits. Does this meet the criteria for Fraud? I’m not a lawyer, so I can’t say. But it’s certainly not going to look good in front of a judge.
Will Scott Trieste Face Criminal Charges?
There is a lot of anger in the community, both by traders who lost money and other firms who are now being painted by the same brush as FTT. Many are calling for Scott to be put behind bars.
The case being brought forward by TAC will be a civil lawsuit and cannot directly cause Scott any criminal consequences. That said, it will certainly raise exposure to the case and the government may take interest and put forward criminal fraud charges.
In a criminal case, the DA will look for signs of fraudulent intent such as:
- Diverting funds for personal use
- Misleading advertising
- Deliberate mismanagement
From my research, the DA can possible file the following charges:
- Fraud – Up to 20 years imprisonment / Fines up to $250k or twice the cost of damages
- Embezzlement – Up to 10 years imprisonment / Fines and Restitution
- Theft by deception – Between 1 and 10 years imprisonment / Fines based on damages
In reality, if the case reached this point, Scott may be offered a plea deal which would limit or avoid the jail time.
In my personal opinion, I believe Scott’s actions meet the criteria for criminal charges. The amount of traders who have been affected by his greed is into the thousands and this would be the only fair outcome.
How Can I Join the Class Action Lawsuit?
Anyone who has been financially affected by the FTT closure can add their name to the class action lawsuit. The lawyers representing TAC are particularly keen on hearing from anyone who has invested upwards of $20k with FTT who may be eligible to act as a lead plaintiff.
Contact email: fttarchive@gmail.com
