Baton Rouge Man Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud

 United States Attorney Brandon J. Fremin announced today that Todd Mixon, age 50, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pled guilty to one count of wire fraud before Chief Judge Shelly D. Dick.    

According to admissions made as part of his guilty plea, Mixon solicited potential victims to invest in investment groups or ventures, in which he promised to trade their pooled funds in the foreign exchange markets, and at the end of the venture, promised to return to each victim his or her proportionate share of the group’s pooled funds, including profits. 

In order to induce victims to invest with him, Mixon made numerous materially false promises and representations, including that the funds would be used only for trading in the foreign exchange markets through forex trading outlets; Mixon would invest his own funds in the venture; he would take a small percentage of net profits as a commission; and no other funds would be withdrawn until the end of the investment.  To make the investments appear legitimate, Mixon sent victims text messages with screen shots of fake trades and emails with fake account statements from foreign exchange trading platforms, which falsely showed steadily increasing values in the victims’ purported ventures.  Mixon further falsely told victims that their investments were making profits.

In truth, none of the money that Mixon received from victims was ever invested in any market, but was instead either diverted to his personal use or used to pay other victims their “proceeds.”  Ultimately, Mixon convinced at least 47 individuals to invest with him and obtained at least $550,001 in victim funds. 

U.S. Attorney Brandon J. Fremin stated, “Wrongdoers like Mr. Mixon who scam innocent victims for their own personal benefit will be held accountable.  We will continue to vigorously prosecute those who devise and participate in these types of schemes and, more importantly, restore justice to the victims to the best of our ability.   I would like to recognize the outstanding efforts of our prosecutor and the FBI for their exemplary work in this case.”

“Today’s guilty plea sends a clear message that individuals like Mr. Mixon who engage in fraudulent foreign trading schemes that impact innocent investors will be held accountable.  Mr. Mixon knowingly deceived dozens of investors out of over $500,000 and chose to use their money for his own selfish greed,” said Bryan Vorndran, FBI New Orleans Special Agent in Charge.  “I would like to thank the efforts put forth by our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office Middle District of Louisiana and the Miami Regional Office of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for helping the FBI disrupt fraud like this.”

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth White who also serves as Deputy Criminal Chief.