A federal judge in Florida has entered default judgments requiring two individuals to pay more than $30 million in restitution and civil monetary penalties for their roles in an alleged fraud scheme involving cryptocurrencies and precious metals. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced the ruling in a statement dated Sept. 30.

The judgments target Brian Early and Alisha Ann Kingrey, who were named as defendants in a 2023 CFTC lawsuit against the trading website Fundsz and its founder, Rene Larralde. The agency said the operation promised guaranteed returns to customers but instead fabricated weekly performance figures and never traded the funds received.

Details of the Alleged Scheme

According to the CFTC, Early and Kingrey promoted Fundsz through Telegram chats with potential customers. They allegedly misrepresented historical weekly trading profits that did not exist and minimized the risks involved. The agency claimed the platform attracted more than 9,000 victims.

The CFTC had previously frozen the company’s assets as part of its enforcement action. Default judgments were entered after the two individuals failed to contest the claims in court.

Responses from the Defendants

Early did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Kingrey stated that she never defrauded anyone, never met the company founder in person, and that customers continued to receive payments until the government froze the company’s assets. She also said she lacked the means to satisfy the court-ordered amounts.

Settlement Involving the Founder’s Estate

Rene Larralde died in 2023. Representatives of his estate reached an agreement in July to surrender cash, cryptocurrency holdings, and a home to resolve the CFTC’s allegations. A receivership filing indicated that approximately $4 million is expected to be returned to investors from those assets.

The CFTC continues to pursue recovery efforts related to the Fundsz matter as part of its broader enforcement against fraudulent commodity and digital asset schemes.