CFTC fines EmpiresX founder $130 million for crypto fraud

Odaily Planet Daily News The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that a U.S. federal court has ordered more than $130 million in fines and compensation to the Brazilian founders of EmpiresX, an illegal cryptocurrency investment platform. On February 4, U.S. District Court Judge Cecilia Altonaga of the Southern District of Florida imposed permanent injunctions, financial penalties, and other legal actions on EmpiresX founders Emerson Pires, Flavio Goncalves, and their partner Joshua Nicholas. The case was originally filed on June 30, 2022, and a default judgment was ultimately made because the defendants failed to respond to the charges before the deadline. According to court documents, Empires Consulting operated a fraudulent investment program, EmpiresX, that falsely promised investors high returns. Pires and Goncalves are accused of taking at least $40 million from victims through false cryptocurrency ads. Instead of investing the funds as promised, the founders abused them to buy Bitcoin and Ethereum, while restricting withdrawals and showing false profits from non-existent investments. The founders of EmpireX used the funds for personal expenses, including luxury goods and travel. Despite this, investigators recovered about $22.8 million in digital currency from them. (Cointelegraph)