Christopher Varlesi Gets 5 Years for 'Gold Coast Futures and Forex' Ponzi That Paid for a Trump Tower Apartment

Case from 2013 (U.S. Attorney's Office release: May 6, 2013). Published on Scammers.com Oct. 16, 2026; case status is current as of that date.

Christopher Varlesi, 54, of Chicago, was sentenced on May 1, 2013, to five years in federal prison and ordered to pay $638,227 in restitution. He had run a Ponzi scheme presented as an investment trading pool called Gold Coast Futures and Forex, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced [1].

How the scheme worked

According to prosecutors [1]:

1. The pool: From July 2008 to January 2012, Varlesi took in more than $1.5 million from about 18 investors, including friends, friends of friends and family. Neither he nor Gold Coast held any license or registration to trade securities or commodities or to run a commodity pool.
2. The promises: He said he would trade gold, commodity futures and foreign currency, and told clients their investments were guaranteed to be profitable with no risk to principal. Some got promissory notes promising their full principal back plus "guaranteed" interest of 5% to 7.5% a month.
3. The reality: He traded only a small part of the money, sent false account statements, and used new money for Ponzi-style payments.
4. Personal spending: More than $120,000 went to a year's rent on an apartment in the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago.

The sentence

Christopher Varlesi, 54, Chicago

• Plea: guilty to wire fraud in December 2012.
• Sentence: five years in prison and $638,227 in restitution for defrauding about 15 investors, imposed by U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo. He was ordered to surrender June 17, 2013 [1].

The FBI and the Illinois Securities Department investigated, with help from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Red flags

• "Guaranteed" monthly returns. 5% to 7.5% a month works out to roughly 80% to 140% a year.
• No registration with the CFTC, NFA or SEC for someone running a trading pool.
• Promissory notes promising no risk on a speculative trading account.

Protect yourself

1. Look up anyone running a pool on the NFA's BASIC database at nfa.futures.org.
2. Be skeptical of any guaranteed return on forex, gold or futures trading.
3. Report it to the CFTC at cftc.gov/complaint and your state securities regulator.

Case status (as of Oct. 16, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Oct. 16, 2026	Source
Christopher Varlesi, Chicago	N.D. Ill. (Judge Castillo)	Pleaded guilty Dec. 2012 to wire fraud; sentenced May 1, 2013, to 5 years and $638,227 restitution	[1]

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "Four Defendants Sentenced To Prison Terms Between Five And 10 Years In Three Investment Fraud Schemes," May 6, 2013. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/four-defendants-sentenced-prison-terms-between-five-and-10-years-three-investment-fraud

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