The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has sued Aipu and Fidefx, as well as individual defendants Qian Bai, Lan Bai, and Chao Li.
Bai and Lan Bai, individually and as controlling persons of Aipu, with Fidefx and Li, acting as a common enterprise, fraudulently solicited and misappropriated at least $3.6 million from at least 32 customers as part of a fraudulent investment scheme, the regulated claims.
Still to this day, the defendants continue to solicit and accept assets – fiat currency and digital assets – from customers for the sale of agreements; contracts, or transactions in commodities on a leveraged or margined basis or financed by the offeror counterparty or a person acting in concert with the offeror or counterparty on a similar basis; off-exchange retail foreign currency contracts and commodity futures contracts.
Aipu and Fidefx scammed Asian American trading community
The complaint alleges that the fraudulent scheme involved customers funding a supposed “trading account” with Aipu or Fidefx through their websites, or agreeing to trade commodities via Aipu or Fidefx after being contacted by solicitors acting for the defendants. The websites were identical but used different names. Aipu and Fidefx solicitors contacted customers through platforms like WeChat, WhatsApp, Line, or other social media, claiming to possess insider knowledge that could earn 10% to 30% profits per trade in commodities, including leveraged retail transactions, retail forex, or futures contracts. They offered to share this knowledge and assist customers in trading by providing specific advice. Once an account was funded, customers accessed online statements showing alleged deposits and profitable trades at Aipu or Fidefx.
These account statements were false. Aipu and Fidefx had no U.S.-based trading accounts where customer funds were held, and no trades were conducted on behalf of customers. The defendants had no commodity trading accounts, failed to use customer funds to secure trades, and misappropriated all assets received from customers, transferring them offshore to entities unrelated to commodity trading.
During the relevant period, the defendants worked with solicitors as a common enterprise, instructing customers to transfer fiat and digital assets through bank accounts and digital wallets affiliated with them. None of these accounts were held by a CFTC-registered futures commission merchant or retail foreign currency dealer. Instead of using the assets to trade commodities, the defendants misappropriated them, transferring the funds to offshore accounts controlled by individuals outside the U.S.
