US Court Orders Pair in Crypto, Precious-Metals Investment Fraud to Pay More Than $30 Million

A federal court in Florida ordered two people accused of participating in a cryptocurrency and precious-metals investment fraud that harmed more than 9,000 investors to pay more than $30 million in restitution and penalties.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on October 30 that the court entered a default judgment against Brian Early and Alicia Ann Kingrey. The court ordered the two to pay more than $15.7 million in restitution to victims and an equal amount in civil monetary penalties.

The case stems from a lawsuit the CFTC filed in 2023 against investment platform Fundsz and its founder, Rene Larralde, among others. The agency alleged that Fundsz marketed guaranteed returns to investors but did not actually trade customer funds, and that the weekly investment returns it claimed to generate were fictitious.

According to the CFTC, Early and Kingrey promoted Fundsz on Telegram, misrepresented past weekly trading returns and downplayed the risks of the investment. The agency said more than 9,000 people were harmed by the scheme.

Kingrey denied the allegations, saying she did not deceive anyone and had never met Fundsz's founder. She also argued that customers were paid normally until the government froze the company's assets and that she lacked the financial means to pay the amount ordered by the court. Early did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Larralde's estate reached a settlement with the CFTC in July after his death in 2023 and agreed to turn over cash, crypto assets and homes. Materials from the court-appointed receiver show that only about $4 million of that amount is projected to be returned to investors.