Ex-deacon ordered to repay $228M in restitution fleeced from believers in cryptocurrency scam

A former Seventh-day Adventist Church deacon who was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2023 for fleecing more than 30,000 mostly Christian investors out of nearly $250 million in a cryptocurrency scam, has been ordered to pay back more than $228 million in restitution by a federal judge in New York.

The former deacon, Eddy Alexandre, 53, who founded the now-defunct crypto platform EminiFX, is the son of a pastor and had served as deacon at Maranatha French Speaking Seventh-day Adventist Church in Jamaica, Queens, according to The Haitian Times.

Most of his victims were reportedly Haitian immigrants he accessed through the Haitian Adventist Church network. He promised them at least a 5% weekly return on their investment using fake artificial-intelligence trading technology. In reality, Alexandre invested a large share of the money he collected in Bitcoin, which fell some 26% during the period he was operating the scam, from September 2021 through May 2022. He also splurged on a $4.8 million Long Island home, acquire 46 foreclosed properties, leased six cars, and sent some $15 million of investor funds into his personal bank account.

In a summary judgement on Aug. 19 secured by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni found Alexandre and EminiFX, jointly liable for restitution.

“Defendants Alexandre and EminiFX are jointly and severally liable to pay restitution in the total amount of $228,576,962,” Caproni wrote in her judgement. 

She also found that Alexandre is liable to pay disgorgement in the amount of $15,049,500.

Information on the company’s website which is in receivership, claims they have already paid out more than $85 million to investors and plan on making more payments. Individuals who invested more than $1,000 can expect to receive 45% of their deposits minus withdrawals. Those who invested $1,000 or less will receive 55% of their deposits minus withdrawals.

“Following months of investigation and efforts to recover as many of Defendants’ assets as possible, the Receiver moved for approval of a plan to distribute assets to defrauded EminiFX investors,” Caproni wrote. “The Court approved the Receiver’s plan in January 2025 and distributions have been underway since then. …. In the opinion approving the plan of distribution, the Court determined as a matter of law that EminiFX operated as a Ponzi scheme.”

Attorneys for the government-appointed receiver are also seeking to recover at least $538,000 from Clarelle Dieuveuil, Alexandre’s wife, and $5 million from Pastor John Edvard Maisonneuve and his wife, Sophia Desrosiers Maisonneuve, The Haitian Times reported about a separate complaint. Those funds, according to the report, were not deposited in any EminiFX account.

The Maisonneuves are reportedly prominent figures in the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Haitian worshipers networks. John Edvard Maisonneuve leads New Eden SDA in Neptune, New Jersey. Church officials did not respond to calls for comment from The Christian Post on Wednesday.

In a statement to The Haitian Times, Clarelle Dieuveuil admitted to only receiving a $200,000 payment from the company and denied all other claims of wrongdoing.

“Ms. Dieuveuil unequivocally denies the allegations in the complaint and steadfastly maintains that she was not involved in any fraudulent conduct,” her attorney told the publication.

Will Petion, an Allentown, Pennsylvania, investor who claimed the Maisonneuves pressured congregants like him to invest in the scheme, told The Haitian Times he is happy that justice will be served on the Maisonneuves.

“It looks like they won’t get away with it,” he said of the pastor. “He needs to face prison [time] to give up the money.”