US prosecutors have accused the owner of Blackbox Pulse, branded as Unique Forex, Thomas Lanzana, 51, of running a 1.1 million forex Ponzi scam by soliciting deposits from at least 45 clients to invest in what he claimed were “highly successful, algorithm-based trading pools in foreign currency derivatives” (forex) and other financial instruments.
He also presented himself as a highly successful veteran trader, while he was not a professional in the forex field at all.
In order to perpetuate his scheme, Lanzana send his clients false account statements and posted false monthly account statements on his corporate website with balances sometimes exceeding 800 000 USD, featuring forex trading accounts that simply did not exist.
Lanzana also sent false tax documents to customers reporting earnings that did not exist as well.