A former New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) broker has been ordered to pay $54 million in damages and penalties by a federal court for operating a fraudulent crypto trading scheme, according to a notice from the U.S. commodities watchdog.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said Ohio resident Michael Ackerman has been banned from trading in any markets supervised by the watchdog by a judge at the Southern District of New York court. Ackerman was charged in 2020 for with defrauding some 150 investors and raising $33 million by promising "extraordinary profits."

While Ackerman initially pleaded not guilty to running the scheme, he changed his plea in September 2021.

The final order, signed on June 13, closes the CFTC enforcement case against Ackerman, the regulator said in its announcement.

"It also requires him to pay $27 million in restitution to defrauded victims and a $27 million civil monetary penalty in connection with a fraudulent digital asset trading scheme," the notice said.

Regulations CFTC Fraud US Court Cases Fines

Sandali Handagama

Sandali Handagama is CoinDesk's deputy managing editor for policy and regulations, EMEA. She is an alumna of Columbia University's graduate school of journalism and has contributed to a variety of publications including The Guardian, Bloomberg, The Nation and Popular Science. Sandali doesn't own any crypto and she tweets as @iamsandali