Hunter Wise Commodities, LLC was a privately held Spring Valley,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

-based wholesale precious metals trader and

financier An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Type ...

offering

back office A back office in most corporations is where work that supports ''front office'' work is done. The front office is the "face" of the company and is all the resources of the company that are used to make sales and interact with customers and client ...

accounting services to its clients. The company also had offices in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on December 28, 197 ...

. Formed in 2007, its wholly owned subsidiaries included Hunter Wise Credit, LLC, Hunter Wise Trading, LLC and Hunter Wise Services, LLC. Fred Jager was the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

and Harold Edward Martin was president and

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the " C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if ...

Litigation

Hunter Wise Commodities in September 2012 filed for a

declaratory judgment A declaratory judgment, also called a declaration, is the legal determination of a court that resolves legal uncertainty for the litigants. It is a form of legally binding preventive by which a party involved in an actual or possible legal ma ...

in the U.S. District Court for the

Northern District of Illinois The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (in case citations, N.D. Ill.) is the federal trial-level court with jurisdiction over the northern counties of Illinois. Appeals from the Northern District of Illinois a ...

for a finding that it was compliant with the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), including amendments by the

Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, commonly referred to as Dodd–Frank, is a United States federal law that was enacted on July 21, 2010. The law overhauled financial regulation in the aftermath of the Great Recess ...

in 2011. In December 2012, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a complaint in the

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (in case citations, S.D. Fla. or S.D. Fl.) is the federal United States district court with territorial jurisdiction over the southern part of the state of Florida.. Appeal ...

alleging that Hunter Wise was engaging in unlawful activities. In a December press release, Hunter Wise Commodities categorically denied the CFTC's allegations and contended that the CFTC overreached its

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...

and mischaracterized the nature of the transactions. On February 25, 2013, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida froze all the assets of Hunter Wise Commodities. "The Court has set the trial of the CFTC's claims against the Defendants for a two-week period commencing on February 24, 2014." On May 22, 2014, the Southern District Court in Florida found that Hunter Wise Commodities, three related companies, Fred Jager, and Harold Edward Martin Jr. were found to have "defrauded thousands of retail customers" and were ordered to pay $52.6 million in restitution and $55.4 million in civil penalties.

References

{{reflist American companies established in 2007 Companies based in Spring Valley, Nevada