Within the last week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has charged two San Diego County speculators with plundering funds from commodity pools they professed to be running. Jeffrey Gustaveson of Carlsbad raised $2.5 million from investors to put their money to work trading commodity futures. But he only put $400,000 into commodities; he put the rest in a checking account which he used to pay personal expenses, says the commission. To conceal the fraud, Gustaveson sent out false trading statements and reported false profits, says the commission. Separately, Charles Steven Goodie collected $494,000 from the public to put into commodity contracts. He used a false trading record, says the commission. Goodie confessed to the investors that he spent the money on personal expenses, rather than making trades, according to the commission. Goodie, too, sent out false account statements, according to the commission.

Back in the 1980s, the late J. David (Jerry) Dominelli collected money from investors for a commodity pool, touted a phony track record, lost money trading, spent the money on himself and his paramour, sent out false statements, and eventually went to prison for a long stretch. His lover, then named Nancy Hoover, admitted her involvement in the scheme and went to prison for two years.