<p><span>The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced it has filed a civil enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida against </span><span>Emerson Pires </span><span>and </span><span>Flavio Goncalves</span><span>, both Brazilian citizens who previously resided in Port Saint Lucie, Florida; </span><span>Joshua Nicholas </span><span>of Stuart, Florida; and </span><span>Empires Consulting Corp.</span><span>, a Florida corporation. The complaint alleges the defendants fraudulently solicited, accepted, and pooled at least $41.6 million, including more than $14.3 million from individuals in the U.S., through commodity interest pools under the name EmpiresX. The complaint further alleges that Pires, Goncalves, and Empires Consulting misappropriated at least $5 million in pool partic