Federal Court Also Sanctioned the Defendant for His Misconduct in Filing Defamatory and False Allegations Against the CFTC and Threatening CFTC Counsel
August 12, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced today the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered final judgment against Daniel Winston LaMarco of New York City, imposing a judgment totaling $3,450,400.
The final judgment requires LaMarco to pay $862,600 in restitution to his victims and a $2,587,800 civil monetary penalty. The judgment also permanently enjoins LaMarco from engaging in conduct that violates the Commodity Exchange Act, as charged, and permanently bans him from engaging in any commodity-related activity.
The final judgment follows U.S. District Court Judge Diane Gujarati’s rulings including:
- July 10, 2025, order adopting the report and recommendation issued by Magistrate Judge James M. Wicks in favor of the CFTC’s motion for remedies and final judgment against LaMarco;
- September 4, 2024, order adopting the report and recommendation issued by Magistrate Judge James M. Wicks in favor of the CFTC’s motion for summary judgment against LaMarco as to liability for forex fraud and commodity pool operator fraud; and
- March 14, 2023, memorandum and order adopting the report and recommendation issued by Magistrate Judge James M. Wicks in favor of the CFTC’s motion for default judgment against LaMarco’s company, GDLogix, Inc., on all counts in the complaint including fraud and failure to register as a commodity pool operator.
The default judgment order against GDLogix, Inc. imposed permanent trading and registration bans and ordered it to pay $862,600 in restitution and a $2,587,800 civil monetary penalty.
Case Background
The final judgment and orders resolve the CFTC’s enforcement action filed July 10, 2017, which charged LaMarco and GDLogix, Inc. with fraudulently soliciting and accepting $1,492,650 from pool participants to trade forex contracts in a commodity pool the defendants operated. [See CFTC Press Release No. 7588-17]. As alleged, the majority of the pool participants were LaMarco’s friends and acquaintances. He lost nearly all of their funds through unsuccessful trading in his personal account and by diverting $630,050 of the total principal to some pool participants as purported “profits” in the nature of a “Ponzi” scheme.
The summary judgment report and recommendation found LaMarco committed fraud as a commodity pool operator and made material misrepresentations and omissions to existing and prospective pool participants. The order further found LaMarco misappropriated pool participants’ funds for personal use and conducted no trading on behalf of participants.
Sanctions Ordered Against LaMarco
Additionally, in a June 20, 2025 order the court sanctioned LaMarco for his misconduct in making repetitive, defamatory and false allegations against the CFTC and its counsel through pleadings and letters. The court struck portions of LaMarco’s filings from the record and determined “LaMarco continuously asserts untrue and false accusations against the plaintiff in the filings,” demonstrating bad faith conduct. The court also found LaMarco’s threats to CFTC counsel were “inexcusable.”
Related Criminal Action
In a related criminal action involving the same conduct at issue in the CFTC’s case, LaMarco earlier pleaded guilty to one count of commodities fraud and one count of wire fraud in U.S. v. LaMarco, No. 2:16-cr-433 (E.D.N.Y.). On February 3, 2017, LaMarco was sentenced to 42 months in prison and ordered to pay $872,600 in restitution.
The CFTC cautions that orders requiring repayment of funds to victims may not always result in the recovery of any money because the wrongdoers may not have sufficient funds or assets. The CFTC will continue to fight vigorously for the protection of customers and to ensure the wrongdoers are held accountable. The CFTC thanks the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York for its assistance in this matter.
CFTC Division of Enforcement staff responsible for this action are Danielle Karst, Michael Amakor, and Paul G. Hayeck.
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