CFTC Secures $30 Million Judgment Tied to Alleged Crypto Scam

A federal judge in Florida ordered two individuals to pay more than $30 million in restitution and penalties for allegedly defrauding more than 9,000 people in a scam involving crytocurrencies and precious metals, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in a statement on Sept. 30.

Default judgments were entered against Brian Early and Alisha Ann Kingrey, the CFTC said. The two were defendants in a 2023 lawsuit the CFTC filed against a trading website called Fundsz and its founder, Rene Larralde.

The agency, which froze the company’s assets, alleged the fraud scheme promised guaranteed returns but instead made up fictional weekly returns and didn’t trade any customer funds. Early and Kingrey promoted the company in Telegram chats with customers, misrepresenting false historical weekly trading profits and downplaying risks, the CFTC said.

Early didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Kingrey said she never defrauded anyone, never met the company founder in person, and customers got paid until the government froze the company’s assets. She also said she had no means to pay the court sanctions.

“You can’t get blood from a turnip,” Kingrey said. “Check my Chime bank account; I’m negative $25 as we speak.”

The judge ordered Kingrey and Early to pay more than $15.7 million in restitution and more than $15.7 million in civil monetary penalties, the CFTC said.

Representatives of the estate of Rene Larralde, who died in 2023, agreed in July to surrender cash, cryptocurrency and a home to settle the CFTC’s allegations. About $4 million is expected to be returned to investors, according to a receivership filing.

Photo: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission headquarters in Washington. Photographer: Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg