CFTC fines EmpiresX founder $130 million for cryptocurrency fraud case

PANews February 6th news, according to Cointelegraph, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that the U.S. federal court ordered a fine and compensation of more than $130 million to the Brazilian founder of the illegal cryptocurrency investment platform EmpiresX.

On February 4, U.S. District Court Judge Cecilia Altonaga imposed permanent bans, financial penalties and other legal actions against EmpiresX founder Emerson Pires, Flavio Goncalves and his partner Joshua Nicholas. The case was originally filed on June 30, 2022 and absenteeism was finally ruled as the defendant failed to respond to the charges by the deadline.

Empires Consulting operates a fraudulent investment program, EmpiresX, which falsely promises high returns to investors, according to court documents. Pires and Goncalves are accused of obtaining at least $40 million from victims through fake cryptocurrency advertising. Instead of investing these funds as promised, the founders abused them to buy Bitcoin and Ethereum while limiting withdrawals and showing false profits from non-existent investments. EmpireX founders use the funds to personal expenses, including buying luxury goods and travel. Despite this, investigators recovered about $22.8 million in digital currency from them.