Ex-Commodities Broker Joshua T.J. Russo Gets 4 Years for Selling Clients a Fund That Never Took Their Money

Case from 2013 (U.S. Attorney's Office release: Feb. 26, 2013). Published on Scammers.com Oct. 16, 2026; case status is current as of that date.

Joshua T.J. Russo, a 31-year-old Chicago man, had been vice president of alternative investments at Olympus Futures Inc., previously Peak Trading Group. On Feb. 20, 2013, he was sentenced to four years in federal prison for commodities fraud. He had taken about $2.5 million from six customers, who lost about $1.3 million, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced [1].

How the scheme worked

Russo admitted the following when he pleaded guilty [1]:

1. The pitch: From March 2007 to April 2011, he told investors their money would buy conservative investments that hedged against commodity market risk, including shares of the Peak Performance Fund.
2. The fund didn't take individuals: He knew the fund had never accepted individual investors. None of the money went into it.
3. Speculative trading: He used the money for highly speculative trades in energy, precious metals, agricultural products, currencies and stock indexes, and regularly lost.
4. Covering up: Prosecutors said he used falsified emails, account statements and annual reports, and persuaded clients to raid their IRAs.
5. Referrals: After he showed one investor fake positive returns, that investor referred friends and relatives, who also became victims.
6. Commissions: He collected about $208,000 in commissions and spent it on gambling, vacations, clothing, theater tickets, meals and entertainment.

The sentence

Joshua T.J. Russo, 31, Chicago

• Plea: guilty to commodities fraud in November 2012.
• Sentence: four years in prison, imposed by U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle, with an order to report May 24, 2013. He was ordered to pay $1.175 million in restitution into a settlement fund the National Futures Association set up to distribute money to victims [1].

The FBI investigated with help from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the National Futures Association.

Red flags

• "Conservative" or "hedged" futures products pitched as safe places for retirement money.
• Statements and fund reports that come from the broker, not from the clearing firm or the fund administrator.
• Requests to roll an IRA into something the broker controls.

Protect yourself

1. Confirm a fund accepts individual investors. Get the offering documents from the fund itself.
2. Check the broker on NFA BASIC at nfa.futures.org.
3. Report commodity fraud to the CFTC at cftc.gov/complaint.

Case status (as of Oct. 16, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Oct. 16, 2026	Source
Joshua T.J. Russo, Chicago	N.D. Ill. (Judge Norgle)	Pleaded guilty Nov. 2012 to commodities fraud; sentenced Feb. 20, 2013, to 4 years and $1.175M restitution	[1]

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "Former Commodities Broker Sentenced To Four Years In Prison For Fraud Causing Half-Dozen Clients To Lose $1.3 Million," Feb. 26, 2013. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/former-commodities-broker-sentenced-four-years-prison-fraud-causing-half-dozen-clients

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