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The EminiFX Receiver got back 3658 BTC from CoinPayments, which is a payment processor.
The “Turnover Agreement Application” was approved on November 15, and on November 20, CoinPayments sent 3658.33264986 BTC to the EminiFX Receiver.
The clawback was agreed upon by the EminiFX Receiver, the SEC, and Eddie Andrexandre.
Today, the value of 3658 BTC is about $59.2 million. When the CFTC sued EminiFX and its owner Alexandre in May, the same amount was worth about $107 million on the street.
The bitcoin that was taken back will be kept in a “fully segregated cold storage custody wallet” until the investors in EminiFX can be reached and the court gives more instructions.
In connection with the EminiFX Ponzi scheme, Eddy Alexandre is being charged with two different crimes.
As part of those court cases, the DOJ was told to
submit an affidavit or affidavits that describe in detail how and to what extent prosecutors and the FBI worked with the CFTC and the Receiver during their investigations of the defendants (Alexandre).
We already know a little bit about how the FBI caught Alexandre.
An affidavit filed on November 15 by an Assistant US Attorney gives more interesting information (note that “the Government” means the DOJ);
Each of the FBI, the Government, and the CFTC started their own investigations on their own.
The Government and/or the FBI did not talk to witnesses with the CFTC or the Receiver at the same time.
The CFTC and the Receiver had nothing to do with the Government’s decisions about what charges to bring or how to bring them.
No one from the CFTC or the Receiver’s office was put in charge of the criminal investigation as a special Assistant U.S. Attorney.
The CFTC and the Receiver did not present this case to the grand jury and did not get transcripts from the grand jury.
The CFTC and the Receiver did not get the documents that the Government had to give to the grand jury.
The CFTC and the Receiver did not take part in the search warrants or the reviews of how well they were followed.
The CFTC and Receiver did not go to court with the Government.
The CFTC and/or Receiver didn’t ask the government to look into anything, so it didn’t.
The government did not tell the CFTC or the Receiver to look into anything.
On the day Alexandre was arrested, the CFTC came to his court appearance to serve him with papers related to their case against him. In this case, the CFTC has not been to any other court hearings.
Large parts of the affidavit have been blacked out because they contain information about the investigations.
Information that is usually kept secret and that, if it got out, could hurt future investigations,
The Judge can review the redacted parts of the affidavit behind closed doors.
On November 16, Alexandre’s lawyer said that the redactions were wrong. Later that same day, the DOJ replied by saying
The defendant wants to know everything there is to know about the talks between the government and the CFTC.
In particular, the redacted information includes detailed information about the Government’s strategic decisions throughout the investigation, such as efforts to gather evidence and make sure the defendant didn’t run away to avoid being prosecuted. It also includes information about the timing of the Government’s investigation, what was shared with the grand jury, and information about Government requests to the grand jury.
The defendant has no right to this information unless he or she has already shown bad faith.
The defendant tries to get around this case law by asking for the same kind of detailed information that would normally only be given out if bad faith was proven.
The defendant hasn’t shown that he or she is acting in bad faith, so he or she doesn’t deserve to see this information in the unredacted Affirmation.
There is still no decision on the matter. If nothing changes, Alexandre will go to court in March 2023.
Update 18 January 2023: The EminiFX Receivership has been given permission to sell any digital assets that have been found.
