Mundelein Trader Faces Wire Fraud Charge In Federal Court

A north suburban trader has been charged with fraud for allegedly misappropriating at least $750,000 from investors. Richard D. Carter, of Mundelein, was arrested Tuesday and charged in a federal criminal complaint with one count of wire fraud, according to a news release from the U.S. District Attorney's Office. Carter made an initial court appearance Tuesday where his bail was set at $50,000.

Carter worked as a trader at Blue Guru Trading LLC, a Lincolnshire firm that claimed to specialize in trading futures contracts, and is accused of advising existing and potential clients that his firm’s proprietary trading model was profitable. He is also accused of furnishing account statements and other documentation that purportedly showed significant returns on investments, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said Carter falsified the documents to conceal the fact that he misappropriated much of the money, according to the complaint.

The fraud scheme began in June 2016 and continued until January of this year. Carter allegedly told clients their investments would be traded through a clearinghouse called Straits Financial, and he sent some of them Straits Financial account statements showing that Carter’s firm held a balance of more than $6.1 million. Carter allegedly created the statements himself, knowing that Blue Guru held only $9,000 in investor funds, the complaint states.

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