Overview:
David Castleman, the court-appointed receiver in the EminiFX crypto investment fraud case, extended the deadline to February 26, 2024. His team is not charging any fees or prioritizing any users over others.
This reporting is sponsored by a grant from The McGraw Center for Business Journalism at the Craig Newmark School of Journalism at the City University of New York.
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NEW YORK — The federal court-appointed receiver in charge of returning funds in the EminiFX fraud case has extended the deadline for investors to formally request money back. David Castleman said he moved the deadline from Dec. 18 to February 26, 2024, because some people not familiar with the online claims process need the extra time.
More than 20,000 users have filed claims through the EminiFX user portal, Castleman told The Haitian Times Monday. But users the estimated 5,000 users who haven’t yet filed should submit their claims by the February for his team to verify.
“It’s not the final word as we’ll keep working on their submissions,” Castleman said. “But at some point, we do have to cut it off, or it’ll never end.”
Until then, Castleman said, he plans to spread the word and provide credible information through media interviews mostly. For example, some monies invested through CoinPayments just before the site shut down do not appear in EminiFX records. People who invested around that time or by giving recruiters cash should submit any proof of their transactions.
He’ll also make seek to have more Creole speakers available, free of charge to users.
“We’re not charging a fee to participate, we’re not charging fees to accelerate [processing],” he said. “There’s no advance distribution or preferential treatment.”
The extension will not delay the distribution of funds and a date has to been set yet, he said. That phase must still be approved by the Commodities and Future Trading Commission (CFTC), which brought the suit against EminiFX and Alexandre.
Get close to the receivership
Castleman initially made the announcement of the extension in a Dec. 12 YouTube message. In September, Castleman launched the claims verification process to give back some of $153.7 million recovered from EminiFX or its CEO Eddy Alexandre. Investors, most of them Haitian, must follow the court-approved process using the user portal. That site is in English, Creole and French – as are all emails and video announcement subtitles, Castleman said.
“It’s up to the community to know the process and to follow the process,” said Charnette Frederic, chair of the National Haitian American Elected Officials Network (NHAEON). “It is clear that millions of dollars are on the platform. So if you read the process or listen to the YouTube [announcement], it is in Creole, it is in French, put it [the claim] in.”
Frederic said she is hesitant to advocate for community groups to become involved with helping users file claims. For one, she said, introducing an intermediary may cause confusion. Second, as elected officials, people like her don’t have the resources to dedicate to helping vulnerable users. Officials must also prioritize their constituencies’ issues.
“I really encourage people to have a close relationship with the receivership,” Frederic added. “It’s unfortunate because I know that our community works hard, and for this to happen is unfortunate. I hope they will follow the process and hopefully, by next year, it’ll be clearer where the community stands as far as EminiFX.”
EminiFX fraud case recap
EminiFX turned out to be a Ponzi scheme that amassed nearly $250 million from at least 25,000 people and in seven countries. It involved a network of Seventh-day Adventist churches where leaders allegedly recruited members between 2021 and 2022.
The FBI first arrested Alexandre, the CEO, in May 2022 after finding that his cryptocurrency and foreign exchange investment platform was a pyramid scheme. He advertised that he had a “trade secret” robot-assisted trading software that could yield weekly returns of 5% to 9.99% and millionaire status in two to three years. In reality, officials said, Alexandre showed investors fictitious returns over the eight months EminiFX was active. He also used investor funds to reward top performers, to buy up Long Island real estate and luxury goods for himself.
Alexandre pled guilty in February 2023 and was sentenced in July. In pronouncing Alexandre’s sentence, U.S. District Judge John P. Cronan called the operation a “massive Ponzi scheme” that victimized an estimated 25,000 people. He ordered him to serve 108 months in prison and to make restitution of nearly $214 million.
Alexandre surrendered on Aug. 28 to FCI Allenwood Low, a low-security federal correctional facility in Allenwood, Pa. to begin a nine-year sentence.
*Stretto is the claims agent that serves as the primary point of contact for the EminiFX receivership. Users can reach Stretto at EminiFX@Stretto.com, 855-228-3721 (toll-free) or 1(949) 407-5078 (international). Users can ask for Creole speakers if they prefer.