Fines, Repayments in Currency Trading Case

A federal judge has ordered a Glendale currency trading firm and its president to repay more than $1 million to small investors, many of them from Russia, regulators said.

U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson in Los Angeles also fined Fintrex Inc. $4 million and its president, Arman Ovsepyan, $1.3 million, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said.

Fintrex and Ovsepyan were charged in 2001 with marketing illegal foreign currency futures contracts. Futures are a way to bet on fluctuating currency exchange rates.

Ovsepyan, who hasn’t appeared at hearings in his case, couldn’t be reached for comment. He has been held in contempt for violating a court order to return overseas assets, CFTC attorney Stephen J. Obie said.

E. Scott Reckard