A federal choose in New York has ordered Eddy Alexandre, founding father of the collapsed crypto platform EminiFX, to pay greater than $228 million in restitution after ruling that the corporate was a Ponzi scheme that defrauded tens of hundreds of buyers.
The US Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee (CFTC) secured abstract judgment in opposition to Alexandre and EminiFX, with US District Decide Valerie Caproni holding them collectively chargeable for greater than $228 million in restitution and a further $15 million in disgorgement, in keeping with a Tuesday courtroom submitting.
“Defendants Alexandre and EminiFX are collectively and severally liable to pay restitution within the complete quantity of $228,576,962,” the courtroom dominated. “Defendant Alexandre is liable to pay disgorgement within the quantity of $15,049,500.”
The ruling comes greater than three years after Alexandre was first charged and greater than a yr after he pleaded responsible in a parallel legal case.
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EminiFX raised $262 million on faux robo-trading claims
EminiFX launched in 2021 and rapidly attracted over 25,000 buyers, elevating greater than $262 million in simply eight months. The corporate promised weekly returns of 5% to 9.99% by way of a so-called “Robo-Advisor Assisted Account” that allegedly deployed automated buying and selling methods in crypto and foreign exchange markets.
In actuality, courtroom filings present the platform sustained internet losses of at the least $49 million and by no means deployed the know-how it marketed.
In accordance with investigators, Alexandre siphoned off at the least $15 million for private use, funding bank card payments, luxurious automobiles and money withdrawals. In the meantime, investor withdrawals have been paid out utilizing commingled funds from new contributors.
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Court docket sentences EminiFX founder to 9 years
Alexandre’s downfall started in Might 2022 when prosecutors and the CFTC filed parallel actions. Within the legal case, he admitted to commodities fraud and was sentenced to 9 years in jail, together with a $213 million restitution order.
The civil case, now concluded with Caproni’s order, provides a parallel restitution and disgorgement mandate, although any funds towards restitution “shall offset his disgorgement obligation,” per the courtroom ruling.
The court-appointed receiver, who has been overseeing the restoration and distribution of property since 2022, started paying out recovered funds to victims earlier this yr after a distribution plan was accepted in January.
Losses from crypto hacks, scams and exploits reached $2.47 billion within the first half of 2025, in keeping with CertiK. Whereas Q2 noticed $800 million misplaced throughout 144 incidents, a 52% drop in worth and 59 fewer hacks in comparison with Q1, the yr’s complete to date is already up virtually 3% from 2024.
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