On July 31, 2023, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) commenced an enforcement action against Defendants Rene Larralde, Juan Pablo Valcarce, Brian Early, and Alisha Ann Kingrey, individually and as principals and agents of an unincorporated entity called Fundsz (collectively, the “Defendants”), pending in the District Court for the Middle District of Florida (Orlando Division). The CFTC alleges that from at least October 2020 through the present (“Relevant Period”), Defendants, have fraudulently solicited, accepted, and pooled potentially millions of dollars of contributions from more than 14,000 members of the general public (“participants”) to purportedly trade cryptocurrencies and precious metals in the Fundsz “passive income platform” they operated. The CFTC also alleges that Defendants, individually and through other promoters, have made misrepresentations of material fact when soliciting funds from existing and prospective participants, such as falsely claiming that they profitably traded cryptocurrency and precious metals, earning on average more than 3% per week with the participants’ money, when in fact they did not trade at all. Defendants also made other misrepresentations of material fact, including that Fundsz had made on time and accurate payments to participants for over seven years, and that the prices of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether, also known as digital asset commodities, were increasing dramatically during periods in which the prices of those coins had actually fallen. And upon receiving subpoenas from the CFTC, Defendants halted participant withdrawals, took down their social media presence, and began a campaign to eliminate Fundsz’s presence on Facebook and YouTube. As alleged in the CFTC’s Complaint, by engaging in this conduct, Defendants have engaged, are engaging, or are about to engage in violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (“Act”), 7 U.S.C. §§ 1-26 and CFTC Regulations (“Regulation”), 17 C.F.R. pts. 1-190 (2022). 

In an attempt to preserve Defendants’ assets during the pendency of the enforcement action, the CFTC requested the appointment of a Receiver. The District Court determined that unless restrained and enjoined by the Court, Defendants are likely to continue engaging in the acts and practices alleged in the Complaint, and funds they fraudulently obtained are likely to be misappropriated or otherwise dissipated. Therefore, on August 2, 2023, the Court appointed Melanie E. Damian, Esq. as Receiver over the assets of all Defendants thereby creating the Fundsz Receivership Estate. 

Ms. Damian, with the assistance of counsel, immediately took possession and/or control of Defendants’ known assets and froze all known accounts. She continues her investigation to locate and marshal all assets and accounts of Defendants for the benefit of the Receivership Estate.  

Ms. Damian will update this website as the primary means of communication with Fundsz pool participants. In addition, Ms. Damian can be reached by email at fundszreceivership@dvcattorneys.com, by telephone at (786) 706-9916, or by mail at Damian Valori Culmo, 1000 Brickell Avenue, Suite 1020, Miami, Florida 33131.