Judge Orders Eddy Alexandre and EminiFX to Pay $288 Million, Permanently Banned From Commodity Markets

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Monday that a federal court has ordered Eddy Alexandre and his firm, EminiFX Inc., to pay more than $288 million and permanently barred them from commodity-market activity, marking the latest civil judgment in a fraud case that a judge has already described as a Ponzi scheme.

The CFTC, the federal agency that regulates derivatives markets, said the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted its motions for summary judgment, injunctive relief and a civil monetary penalty against Alexandre, a former Valley Stream, New York, resident, and EminiFX, which operated in Valley Stream and Manhattan. The agency said the orders require $228,576,962 in restitution to investors, $15,049,500 in disgorgement of unlawful gains — offset by restitution payments — and a $45,148,500 civil monetary penalty. The court also permanently barred Alexandre and EminiFX from trading in commodity interests, soliciting funds for commodity trading or participating in related market activity.

The final judgment was directed in an Oct. 8 order signed by U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni and announced by the CFTC on Oct. 19. The civil case stems from a CFTC complaint filed on May 12, 2022, over what the agency and the court said was a fraudulent investment operation that ran from about September 2021 through May 2022.

According to the complaint and the court’s findings, EminiFX marketed itself as a low-cost investment club offering easy access to crypto and foreign-exchange trading through purported proprietary technology. It advertised or reported weekly returns of 5% to 9.99%. Over roughly eight months, the CFTC said, tens of thousands of investors sent the firm more than $262 million.

In an Aug. 19, 2025, summary-judgment ruling, Caproni found Alexandre and EminiFX jointly and severally liable and wrote: “Simply put, EminiFX was a Ponzi scheme, and investors’ decisions to give their money to [d]efendants was predicated entirely on fraudulent misrepresentations.”

The CFTC and court filings said EminiFX suffered net trading losses exceeding $49 million, undermining its claims of consistent profits. At least $15 million was tied to Alexandre’s transfers of investor funds to his personal accounts, according to the filings; the court’s disgorgement figure matches the $15,049,500 that a court-appointed receiver identified as transferred to those accounts.

The receiver has already recovered and distributed substantial sums to victims, though far less than the court has now ordered on paper. The CFTC said, “As of July 2026, over $98 million has been returned to more than 28,000 investors.” The agency also cautioned that court orders for restitution, disgorgement and penalties do not guarantee full recovery if defendants lack sufficient assets.

Monday’s announcement is the civil enforcement end of a case that has already produced a prison sentence. In a parallel federal criminal case, Alexandre pleaded guilty and on July 18, 2023, was sentenced to 108 months, or nine years, in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. The civil case remains open because receiver distributions to investors are ongoing.