|CFTC Seal
       Commodity Futures Trading
         Commission
         Office of External Affairs (202) 418-5080
         Three Lafayette Centre
         1155 21st Street, NW
         Washington, DC 20581                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               | CFTC Seal                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               | Commodity Futures Trading
         Commission
         Office of External Affairs (202) 418-5080
         Three Lafayette Centre
         1155 21st Street, NW
         Washington, DC 20581
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|CFTC Seal                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         | Commodity Futures Trading
         Commission
         Office of External Affairs (202) 418-5080
         Three Lafayette Centre
         1155 21st Street, NW
         Washington, DC 20581                                                                                                                      
|Release: 4908-04For Release: April 6, 2004
     U.S. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
              CHARGES EQUITY FINANCIAL GROUP LLC AND OTHERS WITH FRAUDULENTLY
              SOLICITING MORE THAN $5.7 MILLION FROM INVESTORS IN THE SHASTA
              CAPITAL ASSOCIATES, LLC HEDGE FUND
	      Shasta Recently Hailed as "Hedge Fund of the
              Week"
            WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading
              Commission (CFTC) announced today the filing of an enforcement
              action in the United States District Court for the District of
              New Jersey against Equity Financial Group LLC (Equity), a
              New Jersey company, and its President, Vincent Firth, of
              Medford, New Jersey, alleging fraud in the solicitation of
              commodity pool participation interests in Shasta Capital
              Associates, LLC (Shasta), a Delaware corporation.
            The CFTC's complaint 
			  also charges the trading advisor that
              traded Shasta’s funds in the futures markets, Tech
              Traders, Inc., a Delaware corporation located in Gastonia,
              North Carolina, and Robert W. Shimer, of Leesport,
              Pennsylvania, the legal counsel for Equity and Shasta, with
              regulatory violations. (CFTC v. Equity Financial Group LLC;
              Tech Traders, Inc.; Vincent Firth and Robert W. Shimer, Civil
              Action No. 04-1512.)
            The CFTC complaint, filed on April 1, 2004, alleges that Equity
              and Firth fraudulently solicited and received at least $5.7
              million from 29 or more investors for participation interests in
              Shasta, a commodity pool that has been touted as a hedge fund.
            According to the allegations of the complaint, Equity and Firth,
              through a website and a private placement memorandum, touted
              Shasta as having earned annual investment returns exceeding 100
              percent in each of the last three years by trading commodity
              futures contracts using a “unique computerized
              approach" they called the Synergetic Portfolio Trading
              System. As alleged in the complaint, as recently as two
              weeks ago, a third-party web site featured Shasta as the
              “Hedge Fund of the Week.”
            According to the complaint, funds invested in Shasta were
              transferred to Tech Traders, which traded the funds in its own
              name and is alleged to have lost more than $3.5 million during
              the past 12 months. The CFTC complaint, therefore, alleges that
              Shasta did not achieve the “astonishing” 131.97
              percent return for the period March 2003 to February 2004, as
              claimed by Equity and Firth.
            The complaint does not charge Tech Traders with fraud, but
              alleges that it illegally traded customer funds in its own name.
              Among other charges, the complaint alleges that Equity and Firth
              failed to register with the CFTC. It also alleges that Shimer,
              the attorney for Equity and Shasta, aided and abetted
              Equity’s failure to register and Tech Traders’
              trading of funds in its own name.
            Federal Court Freezes Assets, Bars Destruction of Books and
              Records, and Appoints a Receiver
            On April�1, 2004, U.S. District Court Judge Robert B. Kugler
              entered a statutory restraining order 
			  against the defendants,
              freezing their assets and preventing the destruction or
              alteration of their books and records. Judge Kugler also
              appointed a receiver with powers to, among other things, take
              immediate possession, custody, and control of certain assets and
              property and the books and records of the defendants and take all
              steps necessary to secure and protect the assets and property of
              the pool.
            In its continuing litigation against defendants, the CFTC is
              seeking preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, refunds to
              customers, repayment of ill-gotten gains, and monetary penalties.
              Judge Kugler has scheduled a status hearing on April 7, 2004, at
              2:00 p.m.
            The following CFTC Division of Enforcement staff are responsible
              for this case: Elizabeth M. Streit, Joy H. McCormack, Jennifer S.
              Diamond, Venice Bickham, Cynthia Cannon, Anne Smith, Scott R.
              Williamson, and Rosemary Hollinger.
     # # # | Media Contacts
      Alan Sobba (202) 418-5080
      Dennis Holden (202) 418-5088
      Office of External Affairs
	 
	 Staff Contact
	  Rosemary Hollinger
      Associate Director and Regional Counsel
      CFTC Division of Enforcement
      (312) 596-0560
     
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