In fact, the defendant did not earn high returns for EminiFX investors and did not invest most of their funds. The defendant incurred more than $6 million in losses on the small portion of investors’ funds that he invested. He did not disclose the losses to investors.
Furthermore, Alexandre allegedly diverted at least approximately $14.7 million of investors’ funds to his personal bank accounts. He allegedly spent $155,000 in investors’ money to purchase a BMW car for himself and an additional $13,000 on car payments including to a Mercedez Benz.
“Alexandre used a multi-level marketing (MLM) structure through which EminiFX investors received commissions for recruiting others to join EminiFX. This MLM structure appears to have influenced the rapid growth of EminiFX,” according to the complaint.
In a statement, U.S. Attorney Williams said, “As in any of the financial markets, the foreign exchanges offer high return potential, but investors should beware of the downside risks of false claims and get rich quick schemes that oftentimes are too good to be true.”