The EminiFX Receiver has recovered 3658 BTC from payment processor CoinPayments.
Following an approved “Turnover Agreement Application” filed on November 15th, CoinPayments transferred 3658.33264986 BTC to the EminiFX Receiver on November 20th.
The EminiFX Receiver, SEC and Eddie Andrexandre all consented to the clawback.
Today 3658 BTC is worth around $59.2 million. When the CFTC filed suit against EminiFX and owner Alexandre back in May, the same amount had a street value of ~$107 million.
Pending communication with EminiFX investors and further direction from the court, the clawed back bitcoin will be held in a “fully segregated cold storage custody wallet”.
Eddy Alexandre is facing parallel criminal charges in relation to the EminiFX Ponzi scheme.
As part of those proceedings, the DOJ was ordered to
submit an affidavit or affidavits describing with specificity the nature and extent of the prosecutors and the FBI’s relationship with CFTC and the Receiver during their investigations of (Alexandre).
We’ve already been provided insight into how the FBI took down Alexandre.
An affidavit, filed by an Assistant US Attorney on November 15th, provides additional information of interest (note that “the Government” refers to the DOJ);
The FBI and the Government and the CFTC each initiated their separate investigations independently.
The Government and/or FBI did not conduct joint interviews of witnesses with the CFTC or the Receiver.
The CFTC and the Receiver played no role in the Government’s charging decisions or the development of the Government’s prosecutorial strategy.
No one from the CFTC or the Receiver’s office was designated a special Assistant U.S. Attorney to work on the criminal investigation.
The CFTC and the Receiver were not involved in presenting this case to the grand jury and did not receive grand jury transcripts.
The CFTC and the Receiver did not participate in the execution of search warrants or the responsiveness reviews.
The CFTC and the Receiver did not obtain materials produced to the Government pursuant to grand jury subpoenas.
The CFTC and the Receiver have not accompanied the Government to Court.
The Government did not take any investigative actions at the direction of the CFTC and/or Receiver.
The Government did not direct the CFTC and/or the Receiver to take any investigative actions.
On the day of Alexandre’s arrest, the CFTC came to his presentment to serve him with legal process connected to the CFTC’s case against him. The CFTC has not attended any other Court proceedings in this case.
Significant sections of the affidavit are redacted, as they pertain to details of the investigations that are
ordinarily nonpublic and which could be harmful to future investigations if it is revealed.
The redacted affidavit sections are available for in-camera review by the Judge.
Alexandre’s attorney objected to the redactions on November 16th. The DOJ responded later the same day, asserting
The defendant seeks detailed and highly specific information concerning the communications between the Government and the CFTC.
Specifically, the redacted information contains detailed information about the Government’s strategic decisions throughout the investigation, including efforts to gather evidence and to ensure that the defendant did not flee from prosecution; the timing of the Government’s investigation; what was shared with the grand jury; and information about grand jury requests that were issued by the Government.
The defendant is not entitled to such information absent a preliminary showing of bad faith.
The defendant attempts to make an end run around this caselaw by requesting the same type of detailed information that would ordinarily only be subject to disclosure after a finding of bad faith.
The defendant has not made any showing of bad faith and is therefore not entitled to the unredacted Affirmation containing this information.
A decision on the matter remains pending. Alexandre is otherwise scheduled to face trial in March 2023.