HOW THE HAITIAN COMMUNITY LOST A QUARTER BILLION DOLLARS IN A PONZI SCHEME
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BY: EMMANUEL ROY
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK – After EDDY ALEXANDRE was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a civil lawsuit against him and his nascent company EMINIFX. Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, the FTC filed a motion asking a federal judge in New York City to appoint a receiver to take over EMINIFX.
At the time of the arrest, a press release from the United States Attorney’s office in Manhattan stated that EDDY ALEXANDRE collected 59 million dollars from the Haitian community in a Ponzi scheme promising investors 5 to 10 percent return on their money each week.
Earlier this week, the appointed Receiver, attorney DANIEL CASTLEMAN released its first official Report. The Report reveals what many people were afraid to discover: that ALEXANDRE was running a Ponzi scheme that set up the company as a multi-level marketing venture where investors were encouraged and paid to recruit others.
The return on investment (ROI) was not from profits earned from trading as ALEXANDRE promised but from the money earlier investors paid. A Ponzi scheme works exactly how ALEXANDRE ran EMINIFX.
In September 2021, ALEXANDRE incorporated EMINIFX and launched a website (www.EMINIFX.com). The Receiver took over the site due to a court order.
On the EMINIFX website, investors could open an account by creating an E-wallet and use the account to deposit their investment contributions. Earlier investors were offered money, cars, and other goodies to recruit others to invest. ALEXANDRE’s connection to the Adventist church, aided by other pastors, was the great catalyst fueling the success of EMINIFX.
According to the Receiver Report (Read Report here), the Haitian community in the United States gave ALEXANDRE 250 million dollars to invest in CRYPTOCURRENCY and FOREIGN EXCHANGE. None of that money was actually invested. The weekly profits were not real profits.
The Report states as follows “…users of the EminiFX system created accounts using an email address, social security number, and other information and deposited cash or cryptocurrency into the system. The account balances were maintained in US dollars, and users maintained funds in either their ‘e-wallets’ or their ‘trading wallets.’ Every Friday, a weekly ‘ROI’ (return on investment) of between 5.00% and 9.99% was applied to increase every EminiFX user’s account balance, the same ROI for all users. Although most users did not redeem, some did and the account balance after ROI’s was the amount that could be withdrawn after EminiFX deducted a 15% withdrawl fee.” The report goes on to state, “The Receiver and his team have not discovered any trading activity that would support the ROI of 5.00% to 9.99% that was applied to EminiFX user account balances.”
The day after ALEXANDRE’s arrest, members of the Haitian community who invested with ALEXANDRE told the media that they had no problem because they received the promised profits every week. In reality, there were no earnings, and the profit credited to their E-Wallet was not earned anywhere. Every week the EMINIFX computer system would add between 5% to 9.9% to each investor account. So when some logs into their account, they will see the increase.
Some investors were able and did withdraw part of the fake profit. But most of the 62,000 investors who gave a quarter billion dollars to ALEXANDRE did not withdraw their money. On the contrary, they were discouraged from taking out any money in the hope that they would be millionaires within a year if they left the money in the account.
Why would a guarded and skeptical community dole out so much money into a Ponzi scheme? Some people said it is naked greed. People were promised millionaire status if they invested and kept the money with EMINIFX. Still, according to the government, the only person that seemed to be a millionaire was EDDY ALEXANDRE, whose assets are estimated at 9 million dollars.
ALEXANDRE, who is under house arrest pending trial, has not made any public statements. Likewise, no one from EMINIFX has issued any statement regarding the circumstances surrounding ALEXANDRE’s arrest, EMINIFX investment strategy, or the RECEIVER’s Report. https://truenewsblog.com/receivers-report/
After the Receiver’s Initial Report was filed, the United States Attorney’s office in Manhattan filed a motion to intervene in the civil case asking the judge to stay further discovery in the civil case until the criminal case is over.
Meanwhile. Alexandre’s house in Valley Stream, New York, caught fire, causing him and his family to relocate to a nearby hotel. In a court filing, ALEXANDRE asked the court for permission to relocate to another house and that the address of such house shall remain under seal. Seemingly, ALEXANDRE is concerned about his safety and that of his family.
According to the Receiver, it will take years before investors can get some of their money back. So far, nearly 70 million dollars has been recovered in addition to a Crypto currency account in the country of ESTONIA under the name of EDDY ALEXANDRE. The Crypto account has 3,670 bitcoins, valued at 85 million dollars. This account is frozen, and the Receiver is in the process of retaining a local law firm in ESTONIA to represent the Receivership in its attempt to liquidate the crypto account.
The entire EMINIFX saga has been a tremendously collective loss to a community that most of us believe was poor. The truth of the matter is the Haitian community; the Haitian Diaspora, is very wealthy indeed. Any community that could collectively raise a quarter billion dollars in less than six months is not poor, even if the money was used in a fraudulent scheme.
What has the Haitian community learned from this fraudulent investment scheme? Many lessons have been learned but some people still refuse to believe that ALEXANDRE defrauded them, and they will probably never believe that even if ALEXANDRE is sent to prison.
The criminal case is on track for trial in the next 12 to 18 months. If ALEXANDRE is convicted, he will face up to 30 years in prison. Still, it is more likely that ALEXANDRE, if convicted, will be sentenced to between 7 to 12 years in Federal prison, and since he is not a United States citizen, he will be deported to Haiti.
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