The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Tuesday (April 25) filed a civil enforcement action against Fisher Capital and its owner Alexander Spellane for allegedly running a precious metals investment fraud targeting seniors.

The Los Angeles-based precious metals trader defrauded "hundreds of seniors out of investing more than $30 million in gold and silver coins worth far less than the defendants led their victims to believe," the agency said.

Fisher Capital denied the CFTC's allegations, saying "we respectfully disagree with the allegations made by the CFTC in its complaint and plan to defend ourselves and defend our clients' free will to make their own financial decisions."

In an emailed statement to Reuters, the company said Fisher Capital "has never targeted any particular group of people, as falsely alleged in the complaint, nor has it ever sold precious metals for fraudulent gains."

The CFTC said Fisher Capital and Spellane made high-pressure sales pitches over the phone to instill concerns about the safety of traditional retirement and savings accounts and to trick victims into buying overpriced precious metals.