New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Texas Resident George D. Hudgins must pay $71 million following a federal court order obtained by the CFTC, to pay back victims of his Ponzi scheme and to settle a $15 million penalty.

According to the original complaint, Hudgins swindled about $88 million from June 2001 to May 2008, in a commodity pool operation that was supposed to trade futures and options.  Hudgins told investors that his fund was reaping returns of up to 99 percent annually, when in reality, the pool had experienced a net loss since its inception in December 2003, and had lost a total of about $28 million.

In typical Ponzi scheme fashion, Hudgins used about $17 million from the pool to pay “returns” to existing investors and keep up the façade.  In addition, he doctored the account statements to reflect a stellar performance.  Other funds from the pool were withdrawn by Hudgins to pay for his extravagant lifestyle, which included Tiffany jewelry, antique sports cars, real estate and a plane.

When a judge froze the assets of Hudgins and appointed a receiver to distribute the funds, only $24 million was collected.

Last September, Hudgins pleaded guilty to wire fraud, money laundering and embezzlement.  He was sentenced last month to serve 121 months in a federal prison.

Julie Scuderi
Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net
Email: julie@hedgeco.net

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Tags: account statements, accredited-investors, cftc, commodity pool, embezzlement, extravagant lifestyle, federal prison, futures-and-options, hedgeco, hudgins, money-laundering, ponzi scheme, pool operation, prison julie, sports cars, stellar performance, tiffany jewelry, wire-fraud