A boiler room accused of fleecing hundreds of retirees out of $30 million in coins
The CFTC sued Los Angeles-based Fisher Capital LLC, an affiliated company and principal Alexander Spellane (also known as Alexander Overlie) in April 2023, alleging they used high-pressure telephone sales to persuade hundreds of elderly people nationwide to liquidate retirement accounts and invest more than $30 million in gold and silver coins priced at double or triple their real market value. The case remains an active civil enforcement action in discovery, with no judgment or settlement on the docket; a court order of 20 August 2026 refers to the death of the individual defendant, and the parties have reported progress toward a resolution. The allegations below are the CFTC's claims, not the findings of a court.
- Year
- 2023
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Ongoing
- Reported loss
- $30.0 million
- Victims
- Not stated in the sources
- Schemes
- Precious metals and gold IRA scams
- Last reviewed
- 2026-10-10
The facts, as recorded
- The CFTC's complaint, filed April 25, 2023 in the Eastern District of New York, names Fisher Capital LLC, AMS Consulting Solutions LLC (doing business as Fisher Capital) and principal Alexander Spellane, also known as Alexander Overlie.
- The complaint alleges that from around June 2020 onward, the defendants fraudulently persuaded hundreds of elderly people across the US to invest more than $30 million, primarily from retirement savings, in precious metals, marketed through high-pressure telephone pitches designed to build trust and stoke fear about the safety of traditional retirement accounts.
- The complaint alleges Fisher Capital falsely marketed itself as a wealth-protection firm and directed most customers' money into 'exclusive,' collectible or 'semi-numismatic' coins priced at grossly inflated levels, frequently double or triple the coins' prevailing market value.
- The CFTC alleges customers routinely lost the majority of their investment's value the moment they completed a purchase, because of the markups charged.
- CFTC Director of Enforcement Ian McGinley: "As alleged, the defendants operated as wolves in sheep's clothing... Fisher Capital and Spellane systematically fleeced retirees out of a significant chunk of their life savings."
- The CFTC is seeking disgorgement, restitution, civil penalties, permanent registration bans and a permanent injunction against further violations; as of this page's last review, no settlement or final judgment had been reported in the case.
- The case is Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Fisher Capital LLC, No. 1:23-cv-03121 (E.D.N.Y.), assigned to Judge Carol Bagley Amon, with Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo supervising discovery and settlement; an answer to the complaint was filed in August 2024.
- The court has repeatedly extended discovery deadlines, an order of 12 June 2026 set a settlement conference for 21 December 2026, and an order of 14 August 2026 noted the parties' letter reporting progress toward a resolution.
- On 20 August 2026 Magistrate Judge Kuo adjourned the discovery deadlines without a date "in light of Defendant Alexander Spellane's death" and directed the parties to file a joint status report by 14 October 2026.
- As of the docket reviewed on 10 October 2026, no consent order, judgment or dismissal had been entered, and the CourtListener docket showed no termination date.
Why this case matters
This is the most detailed documented account, among these three cases, of the sales script itself: fear about the dollar or the banking system, a false promise of safety, and a pivot from a legitimate-sounding pitch to “exclusive” coins priced at multiples of their real value.
“Wolves in sheep’s clothing”
The CFTC’s own description of the alleged pitch is unusually direct for a civil complaint: a firm that marketed itself as protecting seniors’ retirement savings while, the agency alleges, doing the opposite, persuading hundreds of people to move money out of accounts that were already reasonably safe and into coins priced at double or triple their value.
The caveat
This is an allegation, not a finding. The CFTC’s complaint describes conduct it says it can prove, but no court has found Fisher Capital or AMS Consulting Solutions liable, and under US law they are presumed not liable unless and until a judgment says otherwise. A 20 August 2026 court order refers to the death of defendant Alexander Spellane and adjourns discovery deadlines; the court’s docket does not say what that means for the claims against him, and the CFTC’s claims against him have not been decided. The docket also records that the parties have reported progress toward a resolution, but no settlement, consent order or judgment had been entered as of 10 October 2026. Readers should check the court docket for anything after that date.
Sources
- CFTC Charges Precious Metals Dealers and Their Owner in Multimillion Dollar Fraud Targeting the Elderly. US Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Accessed 2026-09-26. Supports: The defendant names, the April 2023 filing date and district, the $30 million and 'hundreds of elderly persons' figures, the June 2020 start date, the 2x-to-3x markup allegation, the wealth-protection-firm framing, and the McGinley quote.
- Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Fisher Capital LLC, No. 1:23-cv-03121 (E.D.N.Y.), docket. CourtListener (RECAP archive of the federal court docket). Accessed 2026-10-10. Supports: The case number, judges, discovery and settlement scheduling orders through 20 August 2026, the 20 August 2026 order referring to defendant Alexander Spellane's death, the parties' reports of progress toward resolution and the absence of any judgment or termination.