Playboy trader accused of duping clients out of $1.5M
A 26-year-old Chicago trader lured unsuspecting clients into a $1.5 million, Ponzi-like scheme, using the proceeds for a luxurious vacation in Bali and tickets to the World Series, according to an indictment from US prosecutors.
Randall Rye, owner of the brokerage firm Faster Than Light Trading, “falsely represented to investors that their investment would be traded using his proprietary trading program and invested in options and futures contracts,” the Justice Department wrote in an indictment.
Rye is a flamboyant — and popular — presence among financial professionals on Twitter. More than 63,000 accounts follow him for his takes on futures and options trading.
To further his scheme, Rye would fake account statements to look like the investments were paying off. In July, he showed one investor, who had given Rye $140,000, that his investment was worth almost four times as much.
Rye’s Twitter account still has a selfie of him with actor and fellow Cubs fan Bill Murray taken Oct. 30.
He was arrested at his home last month, and he faces six counts of wire fraud, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison