How It Started: The COVID-19 Pandemic & The Birth of a Multi-Continent Fraud
At the beginning of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a global economic crisis, millions of people sought new ways to secure their financial future. Unemployment soared, stock markets became volatile, and cryptocurrency investments surged.
Eddy Alexandre, a businessman, took advantage of this chaos and uncertainty by launching EminiFX and more brands as call centres , a supposedly Broker call centre FOREX and crypto investment platform that guaranteed weekly returns of 5% to 9.99%. Investors believed they were using an advanced “Robot or Broker” that could double their money in few months.
The Truth: EminiFX Was Just One Name Among 118 Global Ponzi Operations
EminiFX was never a real investment firm—it was simply the American brand name of a network of 118 fraudulent investment brands worldwide. This was not just one scam, but a multi-continent Ponzi empire Like Prime Coin smart that spread across North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
- Each country had a different brand name, creating the illusion of independent investment platforms.
- In France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, the UK, and Canada, it operated under different labels with identical promises.
- Switzerland, Singapore & Hong Kong investors were scammed through Eastern European FOREX platforms.
- Middle Eastern and Asian with Australia investors fell victim to crypto and digital scams under different branding.
By the time Alexandre was arrested in May 2022, EminiFX had already stolen over $240 million from more than 25,000 investors worldwide. However, more than 100 operations using different names continued to run after his arrest, scamming people to this day through unregulated FOREX and crypto platforms.
How the Stolen Money Was Hidden Across Different Countries
Cyber Authorities soon discovered that EminiFX and its associated brands used international banking networks and exchange to hide stolen digital money.
- Russian, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, ,Estonian, Arabic country : Offshore accounts were used to store stolen investor funds in crypto-friendly banks and exchange .
- Estonia & Lithuania : Digital banks and decentralized exchanges (DEXs) were used tolaunder stolen funds.
- Some Money was fund through crypto payment gateways, making it Easier to trace.
- United Kingdom & Canada: London-based hedge funds and Toronto-based exchanges unknowingly processed fraudulent transactions.
- United Arab Emirates & Saudi Arabia: High-net-worth investors in Dubai and Riyadh were targeted through gold-backed forex scams.
How EminiFX and Its Clones Continue to Scam People Today
After Alexandre’s arrest in 2022, investigators discovered that at least 100 of his Ponzi operations worldwide continued to function under new names.
- These “cloned” investment sites promise high returns, VIP trading programs, and passive income.
- They operate on unregulated FOREX and crypto platforms, beyond the reach of major financial regulators.
- Websites shut down, then reopen under new names, making it hard to track all of them.
Even in 2025, thousands of investors worldwide are still falling victim to these scams, unaware that they are dealing with the same fraudulent network that started as EminiFX.
Global Law Enforcement Crackdown: What’s Being Done?
Despite the continued operations of EminiFX clone scams, authorities have frozen millions of dollars in stolen assets:
- United States & Canada: Seized $152 million in fraud-linked funds, recovering 45%-55% of investor losses.
- European Crackdown: French, German, and British financial regulators identified $80 million in fraudulent transactions across European banks.
- Crypto Exchange Restrictions: Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and Bitstamp froze digital wallets linked to EminiFX and its cloned brands.
- Switzerland & UAE: Authorities blocked bank accounts used for laundering stolen funds.
However, the decentralized nature of cryptocurrency and FOREX markets makes it difficult to completely shut down these fraudulent operations.
Legal Consequences: Eddy Alexandre & The Future of This Scam Network
- May 2022: Eddy Alexandre was arrested and charged with commodities fraud and wire fraud in the United States.
- July 2023: He was sentenced to 9 years in prison for orchestrating a $240 million Ponzi scheme.
- July 2024: A U.S. court rejected Alexandre’s appeal, allowing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and international regulators to continue seizing additional assets.
- January 2025: Authorities Recovered $152 million, with $100 million distributed so far to victims, covering only 45%-55% of their total losses.
Meanwhile, law enforcement and cybersecurity agencies in Europe, Canada, Asia, and the Middle East are still tracking down additional fraudulent networks.
Final Warning
Although Eddy Alexandre is in prison, Russian Alexander Vinnik cybercrime kingpin was out the prison ( 2025 ) as part of an exchange with Russia and Usa, Vinnik operated BTC-e, once one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. He was arrested in 2017 in a small beachside village in northern Greece and detained at Washington’s request on suspicion of laundering $4 billion through the Different exchanges,
The global fraud network They helped create is still scamming people today. The same Forex Ponzi schemes that started during the COVID-19 pandemic continue to trap Forex victims in 2025.