Finance, Investments Financial law advice

[aniruddha sawant]

Jurisdiction

Asia

I'm a freelancer on Upwork working related to trading projects as a trader on a profit-sharing basis and a technical analyst for my clients (I don't give any trading tips).
A few months ago, I got one client who offered me a profit-sharing basis commission by using his own account funds. He didn't transfer me the money. I was placing trades on his account by using zoom video call and sometimes the Anydesk platform. I submitted a word document with my signature, in which I explained to him my strategy and wrote that I will strictly follow that plan but clearly, I didn't follow it.
After placing trades in his account, I made a loss and I promised him that I will recover that loss. He told me that he will file a complaint against me if I didn't recover his losses. He was telling me that, he will file a complaint against me for taking or losing money for him through trading in the FinCEN department i.e. a department for financial crime and they can ban me from coming to America, as I'm living in India.
Trading is a speculation business. We cannot give any guarantee of returns and I also didn't give him any guarantee but I promised him that I will recover his losses and if I didn't recover his losses then he will file a complaint. So, what will happen if he filed a complaint against me in the FinCEN department? will I have to face the jury? or do I have to hire a lawyer from the USA? Is really FinCEN can ban me from coming to America? he is a very rich person. he is living in California and probably he is a millionaire and he told me that his uncle is working in the FinCEN department. So, what should I do right now?

 

[Tax Counsel]

So, what will happen if he filed a complaint against me in the FinCEN department? will I have to face the jury? or do I have to hire a lawyer from the USA? Is really FinCEN can ban me from coming to America? he is a very rich person. he is living in California and probably he is a millionaire and he told me that his uncle is working in the FinCEN department. So, what should I do right now?

First, FinCEN does not itself undertake criminal investigations. Its role is to support other agencies that conduct such investigations by providing information and analysis. He may not be as rich as he's making himself out to be, and I have my doubts about his claim of having an uncle working in FinCEN. It's not a huge agency. But even if he does, who knows what the uncle actually does there. Maybe he works in human resources processing pay and leave for employees. The point is, the guy is probably puffing things up to scare you more.

How much of a loss is involved here? Given the cost and effort involved for the US to extradite you from India, the loss is going to have to be large enough to make that worthwhile. There are also issues about jurisdiction. Without the exact details of what happened, I can't say for sure whether you were subject to US law with respect to the investing activity that you did.

If you can make up the loss relatively easily, then doing that might mollify the guy enough that he won't bother making any complaints with any federal government agencies. Otherwise, about all you can do is consult a U.S. securities law attorney to see what exposure you might have out of this. And wait to see if anything comes out of this.

I'd encourage you to find out about the brokerage and investment firm rules in any country where you are soliciting clients and make sure you meet those requirements. Failure to do that is one of the things that can get you into trouble.

 

[army judge]

I'm a freelancer on Upwork working related to trading projects as a trader on a profit-sharing basis and a technical analyst for my clients (I don't give any trading tips).
A few months ago, I got one client who offered me a profit-sharing basis commission by using his own account funds. He didn't transfer me the money. I was placing trades on his account by using zoom video call and sometimes the Anydesk platform. I submitted a word document with my signature, in which I explained to him my strategy and wrote that I will strictly follow that plan but clearly, I didn't follow it.
After placing trades in his account, I made a loss and I promised him that I will recover that loss. He told me that he will file a complaint against me if I didn't recover his losses. He was telling me that, he will file a complaint against me for taking or losing money for him through trading in the FinCEN department i.e. a department for financial crime and they can ban me from coming to America, as I'm living in India.
Trading is a speculation business. We cannot give any guarantee of returns and I also didn't give him any guarantee but I promised him that I will recover his losses and if I didn't recover his losses then he will file a complaint. So, what will happen if he filed a complaint against me in the FinCEN department? will I have to face the jury? or do I have to hire a lawyer from the USA? Is really FinCEN can ban me from coming to America? he is a very rich person. he is living in California and probably he is a millionaire and he told me that his uncle is working in the FinCEN department. So, what should I do right now?

If you reside in the nation of India, I doubt that any US government agency will eventually prosecute you.

It will be extremely difficult to identify you living amongst 1,400,000,000 people. It will also be a costly and time intensive effort, should any US Attorney seek to prosecute you.

For all you know, the "client" might be a scammer. Heck, the person might be working his craft on other unsuspecting marks. Think about how lucrative this scam could be for him/her, assuming he/she has done it dozens of times.

The bigger problem, should the US Government desire to prosecute you, is overcoming the reluctance of the Indian government to agree to what most might consider something that might have been accidental, unintentional, or where the "victim" is victimizing innocent financial professionals.

I suggest you discuss this matter with an attorney licensed in India with knowledge of international financial crimes and extradition.

It might be in your best interests to rethink just what a prudent person does, insofar as making investment decisions, rather than following your client's directions.


You might find the following articles informative:

Criminal Extradition and International Diplomacy

India is rarely able to extradite financial fraudsters | India News - Times of India

Non Extradition Countries: Best Countries to Disappear