Christopher “Chris” Terry and his wife Isis De La Torre, built a $1.2 billion fraud empire by doing what most caught criminals never dare—continuing the exact same scam after regulators shut them down. Between a 2018 federal commodities fraud conviction and the May 2025 Federal Trade Commission lawsuit, the Terrys ignored repeated warnings from U.S. regulators, international agencies, and watchdog organizations while running iMarketsLive through two rebrands as IM Mastery Academy and IYOVIA.
The audacity wasn’t just continuing—it was expanding. After the Commodity Futures Trading Commission fined Terry $150,000 in September 2018 for operating as an unregistered Commodity Trading Advisor, he simply renamed iMarketsLive to IM Mastery Academy in 2019 and recruited an army of promoters like Alex Morton, Jason Brown, and Matthew Rosa who collectively extracted over $100 million while teaching worthless trading education to victims who lost everything.
The CFTC Bust Terry Ignored
The CFTC’s September 2018 enforcement action should have ended Chris Terry’s career. The commission found that iMarketsLive operated FX Signals Live, which “exercised discretionary trading authority over some of IML’s customers’ trading accounts at third-party brokers” without proper registration, violating the Commodity Exchange Act. Terry paid $150,000, agreed to stop, and kept going.
By 2021, payment processors were rejecting IM Mastery Academy’s applications because of “unrealistic earnings claims” and chargeback rates exceeding 1% for three consecutive years—a red flag indicating fraud. Jason Brown admitted to other top promoters in December 2020 that “when your chargebacks are over 1% no one wanna do business with you unless they hold a reserve of 10+% of your money.”
Truth in Advertising’s Seven-Year Battle
Truth in Advertising documented iMarketsLive’s fraud beginning in 2018, assembling over 50 inappropriate income claims from Terry and his promoters. In June 2018, then-Chief Operating Officer Frank Gomez promised reforms, telling TINA.org that top promoters like Austin Godsey and Alex Morton “now understand the gravity of posting ‘out of this world’ claims and there is no excuse for it.”
The promises were lies. A year later, TINA.org documented 200 new deceptive earnings claims and filed a complaint with the Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council in December 2019. The DSSRC issued a decision in September 2020 recommending IM Mastery Academy “engage in effective training and monitoring” of distributors making illegal income claims.
Terry ignored the DSSRC completely. The fraud accelerated.
FTC Warnings Chris Terry Dismissed
On October 26, 2021, the FTC sent Chris Terry and IM Mastery Academy official Synopsis warnings about money-making opportunities and testimonials, noting they “could be subject to civil penalties” for violations. Terry continued running the fraud.
On December 9, 2022, the FTC sent identical Synopsis warnings to Alex Morton and Matthew Rosa. Both ignored the warnings and kept making deceptive claims while extracting millions from victims.
The FTC’s May 2025 lawsuit reveals Terry knew exactly what he was doing. In June 2021, a payment processor warned him about regulatory risks. In November 2021, Terry texted about FTC exposure, asking “do we have any FTC risk exposure around our disclaimers?” He knew the fraud was illegal and continued anyway.
International Warnings From 21 Countries
While ignoring U.S. regulators, Terry also dismissed warnings from international agencies across five continents. Quebec banned him in June 2016 for soliciting “young, vulnerable clientele” to purchase derivatives. Colombia issued securities fraud warnings in October 2017 and February 2022. The UK labeled iMarketsLive a scam in July 2018. Poland charged IM Mastery Academy with pyramid fraud in August 2022 and September 2023.
Spain arrested several IM Mastery Academy leaders in March 2022. Luxembourg arrested promoters in June 2023 after issuing a May 2023 securities fraud warning. Peru, Seychelles, and over a dozen other countries issued similar warnings. Terry’s response was rebranding to IYOVIA in November 2024.
The Network That Enabled the Fraud
Terry couldn’t ignore regulators alone. He needed promoters who stole over $109 million like Alex Morton, Jason Brown, and Matthew Rosa, who helped him evade compliance by coaching salespeople on hiding deceptive posts from regulators. He needed fake trading instructors like David Imonitie, Matthew Thayer, and Brandon Boyd who admitted they couldn’t trade but taught courses anyway.
Most importantly, Terry needed Isis Terry managing all financial operations, signing payment processing agreements, and hiding assets in shell companies while prosecutors were investigating. Together they built a $94 million mansion empire spanning Mount Kisco, Henderson, Dubai, Miami, and Manhattan while victims lost their savings.
The Collapse of Chris Terry and Orgs
By May 2025, the evidence was overwhelming. The FTC and Nevada Attorney General filed suit alleging $1.242 billion in consumer harm since 2018, including $535 million from U.S. victims alone. Eighty percent of participants earned less than $500 annually, averaging just $77.51, while Chris and Isis Terry extracted over $20 million for themselves.
The preliminary injunction came in August 2025, finally halting operations after seven years of ignored warnings. Three defendants—Jason Brown, Matthew Rosa, and their shell company Global Dynasty Network—settled for a $36 million judgment in August 2025, though only $2.5 million was paid after claiming financial hardship.
Current Status: Assets Frozen, Empire Liquidated
As of December 2025, Chris and Isis Terry remain under court-ordered asset freeze with a receiver liquidating their $94 million empire. IYOVIA shut down May 23, 2025, three weeks after the FTC lawsuit. The preliminary injunction granted in August 2025 halted all operations and required the Terrys to preserve assets—an order they immediately violated.
On December 4, 2025, the receiver discovered Isis Terry had opened a secret safe deposit box with her brother Frank Gomez on August 27, 2025—just two weeks after the injunction. When asked under oath about safe deposit boxes, Isis answered “none.” The box was empty when finally accessed. In September 2025, the Terrys stopped paying their Dubai house manager and offered to sell Chris’s Versace clothes back to the store in violation of the asset freeze.
The receiver has seized the Henderson mansion where Chris lives with girlfriend Keishia McLeod, the Mount Kisco mansion where Isis threw keys at investigators and stormed off, eight luxury vehicles including two Ferraris and a Rolls Royce, and two Dubai condos the Terrys haven’t visited since January 2025. A $3.75 million yacht purchased in 2021 is being sold. The receiver believes millions in jewelry remain hidden.
No criminal charges have been filed despite $1.242 billion in consumer harm. The civil case continues with Chris and Isis Terry facing the full FTC and Nevada lawsuit, while Jason Brown and Matthew Rosa settled in August 2025 for $36 million though only $2.5 million was paid after claiming financial hardship.
Conclusion
Chris Terry’s fraud succeeded not despite regulatory warnings but through systematically ignoring them while expanding operations. From the 2018 CFTC fine through FTC Synopsis warnings in 2021 and 2022, Terry demonstrated that without criminal prosecution, civil penalties and regulatory warnings accomplish nothing against determined fraudsters willing to rebrand and continue stealing.
