In a New York district court, Eddy Alexandre, the CEO of an alleged cryptocurrency trading platform known as EminiFX, pleaded guilty to commodity fraud. As part of his plea agreement, he agreed to return millions of dollars to investors who had lost money due to his “cryptocurrency investment scam.”

On February 10, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Alexandre had pleaded guilty to one count of commodity fraud. Alexandre will pay approximately $248 million in forfeiture in addition to restitution, the amount of which has yet to be determined.

In May, Alexandre was arrested and prosecuted for his involvement with EminiFX. He first pleaded not guilty to the charges, but on February 10 he changed his plea to guilty. He could get up to ten years in jail if he is convicted.

Between approximately September 2021 and May 2022, Alexandre allegedly ran the forex and cryptocurrency trading platform and “solicited more than $248 million in investments from tens of thousands of individual investors,” according to US Attorney Damian Williams. United States for the Southern District of New York.

According to Williams, Alexandre claimed that EminiFX could provide “monthly returns of at least 5%”, but in fact, the CEO did not invest a “significant amount” of the money and “even used some funds for personal expenses”. Williams alleged that Alexandre lied about EminiFX.

Promoted EminiFX as a passive income platform by virtue of its use of top-secret new technology to automate cryptocurrency and foreign currency trading, which allegedly “guaranteed” advertised investment returns.

Alexandre avoided answering investor questions about the nature of the technology, but assured them that they would see a return on their investments in just five months. The investors in the scam received misleading information that they had obtained the promised 5% return on their investments.

In fact, Alexandre lost tens of millions of dollars in the cash he invested; however, he did not disclose this information to investors.

He also transferred more than $14.7 million to his own personal bank account, spent approximately $155,000 on the purchase of a BMW, and more than that amount on monthly payments on a Mercedes-Benz.

Despite the fact that Alexandre committed fraud, he maintained the support of several investors in EminiFX.

According to a story published Aug. 10 by Bloomberg, some people flew in from out of the country to attend a plea hearing in August. One of Alexandre’s supporters said the prosecution against him was racially motivated.

In addition to this, he is being sued in a separate civil case by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which claims that Alexandre engaged in “fraudulent solicitations and misappropriation” in connection with cryptocurrency and forex trading.