‘Most of my life savings:’ Former KY Dem candidate suing market over Russian ruble trade
A former Democratic nominee for Congress is suing a foreign currency exchange market, alleging the market forced him to sell the Russian rubles that, along with Mexican pesos, he’d put “most of [his] life savings in.”
Geoff Young, of Lexington, filed the suit Friday in a federal district court in New Jersey against FOREX.com and its affiliated companies for allegedly making him sell more than 22 million rubles in March 2022 when the market on rubles had bottomed out.
The amount of rubles Young sold would be worth $230,330 today. The ruble-to-dollar conversion rate was about 70% of what it is today at the time and much lower than it was throughout 2023 and most of last year.
Young said he invested a similar amount in Mexican pesos.
For now, Young’s lawsuit seeks a preliminary injunction from the New Jersey federal district court judge to change the wording of FOREX.com’s customer agreement.
Young wrote in the lawsuit that “when this case gets to trial” he will ask a jury to rule that the company must change the wording of its customer agreement, give him his rubles back and for two involved companies to pay him $30 million each.
Young is representing himself in the suit.
“In January 2021, I invested most of my life savings in Russian rubles and Mexican pesos,” Young wrote in a press release announcing the lawsuit. “In February 2022, Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine. On March 11, 2022, FOREX.com stole about half of my life savings by forcing me to sell all of my Russian rubles near the bottom of the market. This proposed injunction is designed to prevent FOREX from ever defrauding me or any other customer again in the same outrageous way.”
Russia has been a topic of interest for Young for some time.
In 2022, Young very publicly sided with Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, which he falsely claims is not an invasion.
He appeared on RT, a Russian state-controlled television network, criticizing U.S. aid to Ukraine the day of the Democratic primary that he won.
He has also made highly unorthodox statements for an aspiring American politician about America’s role in international affairs.
His 2022 campaign paid for a billboard on New Circle Road touting his proposal to “abolish the CIA.”
Young did not receive any support from Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear or the Kentucky Democratic Party, both of whom he has sued, in his 2022 bid. Beshear said at the time that Young “needs help,” a comment to which the candidate took offense.
Young has been a perennial candidate in Kentucky for years.
He’s run for office 10 times, vying for various offices and under different party affiliations. He won the 2022 Democratic party nomination for the Central Kentucky-based 6th Congressional District. He lost that race to incumbent Rep. Andy Barr by 29 percentage points.