CFTC Secures $228M Judgment in Crypto Ponzi Scheme Case

A federal judge has ordered Eddy Alexandre and his company EminiFX to pay $228.5 million in restitution to victims of a fraudulent crypto investment scheme. The ruling marks a decisive victory for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in its civil enforcement action against Alexandre, who previously received a nine-year prison sentence for orchestrating the Ponzi operation.

The scheme, which promised unrealistic weekly returns of 5% to 9.99% through nonexistent AI trading technology, specifically targeted New York's Haitian community. Alexandre Leveraged his standing within local churches and cultural networks to recruit over 25,000 investors between September 2021 and May 2022, ultimately collecting more than $248 million.

Court-appointed receivers began distributing recovered funds to defrauded investors in January 2025, following Alexandre's July 2023 criminal conviction. The defendant's failure to present substantive evidence challenging the CFTC's claims during summary judgment proceedings underscored the strength of the regulatory case.