Page 288 - 《期货和衍生品行业监管动态》（2022年合集）

期货和衍生品行业监管动态

Fraudulently Solicitating Over $41.6 Million in a Commodity Pool Scheme
(2022/6/30)

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced it has filed a

civil enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

againstEmerson PiresandFlavio Goncalves, both Brazilian citizens who previously

resided in Port Saint Lucie, Florida;Joshua Nicholasof Stuart, Florida; andEmpires

Consulting Corp., a Florida corporation. The complaint alleges the defendants

fraudulently solicited, accepted, and pooled at least $41.6 million, including more

than $14.3 million from individuals in the U.S., through commodity interest pools

under the name EmpiresX. The complaint further alleges that Pires, Goncalves, and

Empires Consulting misappropriated at least $5 million in pool participant funds.

In continuing litigation, the CFTC seeks full restitution to defrauded pool
participants, disgorgement of any ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, permanent

trading and registration bans, and a permanent injunction against further violations of
the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), as charged.

Case Background

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

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