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Brazilian Police seized extravagant bling procured from fake crypto transactions
The process followed by the fraudsters convinced people to “rent” the cryptocurrency assets
The mastermind behind the multi-million-dollar scheme is named “Bitcoin Sheikh”
The cryptocurrency industry is ripe with crypto scams, this time the target being Brazil. According to the Brazilian police – they have seized several luxury materials which were obtained through illicit cryptocurrency transactions. It also involved a pyramid scheme of fake crypto investments.
The Brazilian police said on the 6th of October that they have seized gold bars, luxury watches, piles of cash, and other extravagant items. Notably, these were seized from a group accused of mounting an international, multi-million-dollar pyramid scheme.
Crypto-on Rent in Brazil Scam
A certain group was swindling thousands of investors in different countries. These countries included Brazil, and the United States, along with 10 others. The process followed by the fraudsters was to convince people to “rent” the cryptocurrency assets.
Following that, the investors were offered returns of up to 20% per month, according to the Federal Police of Brazil.
In reality, “while part of the money was used to make the monthly payments, the rest was used to acquire high-value real estate, luxury cars, boats, designer clothes, jewels, and other items” for the suspects themselves, police said.
This group is accused of dabbling in millions of dollars. Up to 4 billion reais, that is $770 million, were moved by this group in Brazil alone in a time period of 6 years. The nab came after Brazilian authorities were alerted by the US Department of Homeland Security in March this year.
The Bitcoin Sheikh
The mastermind behind the multi-million-dollar crypto scam is known as “Bitcoin Sheikh” in front of the media. Although, the accused’s real name is Francisco Valdevino da Silva and he belongs to South Brazil’s Curitiba. This is also where he said he has formed a large team of crypto traders that are aiding in churning out profits.
In reality, the team was helping the Sheikh in defrauding Brazilian crypto investors. The group, which included many of his family members, also sold its own supposed cryptocurrencies, promising extravagant monthly returns, police said. Their victims included a number of famous personalities in Brazil, including unnamed soccer players.
Brazil Repeated Prey to Crypto Scams
One of the biggest crypto scams in Brazil was unravelled by the Federal police in April 2022. They stormed the helipad of a boutique seaside hotel in Rio de Janeiro state. This was where the two men and a woman were found loading a chopper with million reais, that’s $1.3 million in packed bills. As per the information given by them, they worked for a cryptocurrency investment firm founded by a former waiter-turned-multimillionaire, Glaidson Acácio dos Santos. He was later found to be running one of the biggest-ever crypto pyramid schemes in Brazil. His company accounted for total transactions worth at least $7 billion ($38 billion reais) from 2015 through mid-2021. They were found to be part of a Bitcoin-based Ponzi scheme that promised investors 10% monthly returns.