I've been a trader for a long, long time. Recently I got on with a new firm based out of Seattle (but really Canada) called Direct Capital Assets ltd. Worked with them for 2 months. They promised me a $250m trading account, promised 10% share in the "sub company" I'd be co-trading, 1.5% of my earnings, .5% of the global pool ($2.5b traded by 10 people)...a great deal...a deal too good to be true! It was. They gave me a small account to see what I could do. After two months they closed the account, kept the money and won't answer calls (I more than doubled the account too). The guy who's running the show is an guy by the name of Frango DiMambro from Victoria. Hopefully someone else doesn't waste their time with these guys. Beware and avoid.
Well, my condolences to you... Hopfully you didn't make a big a loss of your own funds... If you have made screenshots and have other paperwork, then you sure could go to a lawyer and sue the company, or at least file a complaint... Are you sure they are in US or Canada? It looks like it's a Nigerian company...
Yes, all I have are a couple of emails that doesn't really say anything. I should have recorded our conversations. I know they are based out of Victoria with an address for their company saying they are in Seattle...maybe the company is routed out from Nigeria? Not sure.
I'm sorry but something doesn't add up for me. I realize you have been a member for a long time, although you hardly ever post, but threads like this seem strange to me. You are talking huge sums of money here, and yet all you can produce is 2 e-mails to show your involvement in this company? I have no idea how prop firms work and what sorts of legal forms there are to fill out, etc., but there must be a contract or something written up that spells all of this out. This story would make sense if you said you bought a stereo out of some guy's truck in an alley and after bringing it home, you found out it didn't work and wanted to return it, but of course when you went back to the alley, the truck was gone. But given these huge sums of money, you're telling me that there is no paper work, and there is no company registered with any authorities for you to follow up with, and you're saying that you can't even verify if the company is actually in Canada or the US? If you really doubled their own money, but haven't lost your own, and yet have the skills to double an account in 2 months, is it really that hard to find a legit prop firm? If you've been a trader for a long, long time as you say, shouldn't you already have all the connections you need?
I have been a trader for a long time, I worked most of that time from home. Hard to get connections that way. That's why I wanted to work in more of an office environment. I took a break for a few years, got an actual education and was looking for something where I could actually be around people. Yes, very huge sums of money. This is what I was promised. I never traded my capital, I traded theirs, I didn't put in any of my own funds. They wanted to test me on a much smaller account to see how I would do. I did amazingly well. I was ready for more but the boss just wouldn't respond to phone calls, texts or emails. It got to the point where I contacted the guy who was actually fronting the money. The boss threw a tantrum (finally contacted me) and said he was annoyed and I was done. They turned off my account and that was the last I heard. The people live in Canada, the company 'office' is in the US (Seattle...google it yourself, Direct Capital Assets LLC) but that doesn't mean anything. I could set up a fake office in the US and use skype as a phone number. The boss is an accountant so who knows where the money for trading really is. In the beginning it seemed much more legit, daily meetings and such, then communication dropped off. Was all this capital real? I doubt it! It's what I was told and what was advertised, Who wouldn't go for it....and yes, it seemed way too good to be true. Now I've wasted time and I want to help others not fall into the same trap.
Thank-you for your reply, but things still don't add up. You say you have been a trader for a long, long time, so what have you been trading and who were you trading for? How did you gain experience? You say you were trading from home but what does this mean? If you were trading your own account, then trading for a long long time should mean you have a large account. If you were trading for someone else for a long, long time, then how is it that you can no longer trade for them. And if you were trading for a long time for someone else, where is your share of that extended trading? You should have made enough from trading for someone else that you can now trade for yourself. Before most people go into business with someone else, they check and cross reference all sorts of things, even when smaller sums of money are involved. By the time a trader becomes profitable, which you must be since you have been trading for a long time, they have come across very many scams and the ways of this business. If you were a teenager or a senior citizen, I would understand how you got scammed by a company. But a very profitable trader who has been trading for a long time is not stupid. So your story just doesn't make sense to me.
In 2007 you say you were trading with JC and glorify how your money is in your account the next day. With a such a sweet deal... why leave? You say you've gone through a few companies... why? http://www.elitetrader.com/et/index.php?threads/jc-trading-group.99765/page-4#post-1618449 Nothing that you say makes any sense.
You're completely missing the point, Levels. I'm sorry if you can't comprehend what I am saying but hopefully people interested or approached by this company can. Some of what you ask is personal and I don't care to disclose. I'm not here to give you the lowdown of my life story. I've had ups, I've had downs. I know many excellent traders who quit trading due to market conditions. I'm not sure if you know this but even successful traders can lose money when the market stagnates. I reiterate, I'm not here for that. I'm merely trying to help people avoid a scam. If this person isn't you then don't worry about it. Take it how you will.
Its your right to not disclose personal information, but if you do want to help people, the story should make some logical sense. Most people don't enter multi-million dollar deals with only screen captures of a few emails that don't even break down the nature of the agreed upon terms. If this is too personal, then I'm not sure how strong your case against Direct Capital Assets is. Don't get me wrong, I know nothing about these guys so its not like I'm trying to protect them, but there are far too many holes in what you say for a logical person to believe that you, at your suggested skill level, would want to deal with a firm you don't know enough about. I don't mean to rub salt in the wound, but someone with your experience level and years of expert trading should not find themselves in this situation, and if you have, then there are major holes in your story. Who cares about how many traders you know that have failed, and who cares if I know that successful traders lose money sometimes. If your point is that you're a successful trader and yet have lost your money and hence need a prop firm, then this really changes the line about how you've been a trader for a long time and doubled the account in 2 months. Actually... I now see where you are going with this. You have been trading for a long time, and you have worked with many firms, but as you suggest, even many good traders lose money. So perhaps you've lost lots of money over the years, needed a prop firm to continue trading, couldn't get in with someone legit so you had to go with a shady operation, and now you're mad that they aren't splitting any money with you. If this was a legit firm, there would be lots of paper work, but because you know your track record isn't that good, you know you couldn't get in with a top firm, and hence had to go with someone who was a bit shady, since your record is a bit shady, so both parties in this case are taking a risk on each other. Its all circumstantial of course, but hey, you left the door wide open. Don't worry, I shall stop here.