EminiFX CEO Pleads Guilty to $240M Scheme to Defraud Investors

The CEO of a crypto and forex platform pleads guilty to a $248M fraud scheme.
EminiFX CEO is facing as much as ten years behind bars for his part in the fraudulent enterprise.

According to a press release by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), Eddy Alexandre, the leader of a purported cryptocurrency and foreign exchange (“forex”) trading platform called EminiFX, pleads guilty. He solicited over $248 Million in investments from tens of thousands of individual investors after making false representations in connection with his trading platform.

The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, made this announcement on February 10th, 2023. While the U.S. District Judge John P. Cronan accepted Alexandre’s guilty plea.

The U.S. Attorney said that “Eddy Alexandre admitted today to luring investors to his cryptocurrency investment fraud by fabricating weekly returns of at least 5%. In reality, he failed to invest a substantial portion of this investors’ money and even used some funds for personal purchases. His scam caused investors to lose millions of dollars.”

Williams further added that “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.”

Crypto Fraud Related Allegations

According to the allegations, around September 2021, up to and around May 2022, Alexandre operated EminiFX, Inc., a purported investment platform that Alexandre founded, and for which he solicited over $248 Million in investments from tens of thousands of individual investors.

EminiFX CEO marketed his firm as an investment platform through which investors would earn passive income through automated investments in cryptocurrency and forex trading. He offered his investors “guaranteed” high investment returns using new technology that he claimed was “secret.”

Specifically, Alexandre “falsely represented to investors that they would double their money within five months of investing by earning at least 5% weekly returns on their investment using a “Robo-Advisor Assisted account” to conduct trading.” He referred to this technology as his “trade secret” and refused to tell investors what the technology was. Also, “every week EminiFX’s website falsely represented to investors that they had earned at least 5% on their investment, which they could withdraw or re-invest.”

However in reality as Alexandre well knew, his trading platform “did not earn 5% weekly returns for its investors.” He did not even invest a substantial portion of the investor funds entrusted to him. Alexandre sustained millions of dollars in losses on the limited portion of funds that he did invest, which he did not disclose to his investors.

Instead of using investors’ funds as he had promised, Alexandre also misdirected at least approximately $14.7 Million to his personal bank account. As he used $155,000 in investor funds to purchase a BMW car for himself and spent an additional $13,000 of investor funds on car payments, including to Mercedes Benz.

Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while his post-graduation. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing along with being a developer. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing