Eddy Alexandre, the leader of the cryptocurrency and forex trading platform EminiFX, has pleaded guilty to soliciting investments worth more than US$248 million from tens of thousands of investors, the US Department of Justice announced Friday.
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Fast facts
- EminiFX started operations in the summer of 2021, promising customers that the company’s “Robo-Advisor Assisted” account would provide weekly returns of at least 5%.
- Things came crashing down in May 2022 when US authorities found that Alexandre had pocketed a substantial amount of investor funds and had secretly lost millions of dollars of what had been invested.
- “Alexandre’s scam caused investors to lose millions of dollars, and this case should serve as yet another warning to cryptocurrency executives that the Southern District of New York is closely watching and ready to prosecute any and all misconduct in the crypto markets,” said US Attorney Damian Williams.
- Alexandre pled guilty to one count of commodities fraud, agreed to pay fines of about US$249 million, and to pay restitution to the victims in an amount to be specified by the Court.
- The disgraced entrepreneur’s final sentencing in front of a judge is scheduled for July 12. The offense of commodities fraud carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
- Cryptocurrency and NFT rug pulls have been a growing issue within the blockchain space, with over US$25 billion across over 500 fraudulent projects lost to date, according to data from software and technology information site Comparitech.
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