The CEO of the alleged cryptocurrency trading platform EminiFX could spend up to 10 years in prison for his involvement in the scam.
In a New York district court, Eddy Alexandre, the CEO of alleged cryptocurrency trading platform EminiFX, pled guilty to commodities fraud and agreed to repay millions of dollars to clients who lost money as a result of his “cryptocurrency investment scheme.”
On February 10, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed that Alexandre had entered a guilty plea to one count of commodities fraud and would forfeit over $248 million in addition to paying unspecified restitution.
Having been charged with a crime in May 2022 for his involvement in EminiFX, Alexandre initially entered a not guilty plea before changing it on February 10. The maximum punishment for him is ten years in prison.
From around September 2021 to May 2022, Alexandre allegedly controlled the cryptocurrency and FX trading platform and “solicited more than $248 million in investments from tens of thousands of individual individuals,” according to U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams.
Williams claimed Alexandre claimed EminiFX could provide “monthly returns of at least 5%,” but in truth, the CEO utilized part of the money for personal purchases and didn’t invest a “significant percentage” of it.
He hailed EminiFX as a platform for passive income that “assured” the claimed returns on investment by automating trading in cryptocurrencies and foreign currencies using a top-secret new technology.
Alexandre promised investors that their money will quadruple within five months while refusing to explain the technology. Investors in the program were misled into believing they had received the promised 5% returns.
Alexandre didn’t tell investors that he actually lost millions of dollars on the money he did invest.
He also transferred about $14.7 million to his own account, spent about $155,000 on a BMW and more on Mercedes Benz payments.
Despite the deception Alexandre committed, some EminiFX investors supported him.
According to a Bloomberg story from August 10th, a small number of people flew from abroad to attend a plea hearing in August 2022. A supporter asserted that the allegations against Alexandre were racist.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is suing Alexandre in a separate civil action for “fraudulent solicitation and misappropriation” in connection with cryptocurrency and foreign exchange trading.
