Page 16 - 期货和衍生品行业监管动态（2022年7月）

期货和衍生品行业监管动态

The complaint alleges that beginning in approximately September 2020, the
defendants solicited individuals to invest with EmpiresX through the EmpiresX

website and in online videos posted on social media platforms. They offered

individuals the ability to participate either through a “private investment” pool

account directly managed by Nicholas or through a pool account purportedly traded

by an automated “EX Bot” based on Nicholas’ trading. As alleged, the defendants

advertised EmpiresX as a means for participants to gain “financial independence” and

“[b]ecome involved in financial markets such as futures, options, stock exchange and

cryptocurrency” and “receive their profits daily.”

According to the complaint, Pires, Goncalves, and Nicholas knowingly made

false claims regarding the investments made by the pools, the size of the pools, and

participant returns. They also showed screen shots of what they identified as

EmpiresX’s profitable account with a large, well-known electronic trading platform.
The complaint further alleges that in fact, EmpiresX had no account with that

platform, and the defendants had created a fake website designed to mislead

participants into thinking that EmpiresX was actually trading their funds.

As charged, only $1 million of participant funds was sent to a futures trading

account in the name of Empires Consulting, while the majority of participant funds

were misappropriated or lost.

By November 2021, the defendants stopped honoring participant withdrawal

requests. According to the complaint, there is no indication that EmpiresX actually

returned a significant amount of requested funds to any pool participants.

The complaint also charges the defendants with misrepresenting EmpiresX’s

registration status to pool participants. It also alleges that Empires Consulting acted as

a commodity pool operator, and Pires, Goncalves, and Nicholas acted as associated
persons of a commodity pool operator without registering as required.

Parallel Criminal and Civil Actions

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