The United States seizes $ 24 million in bitcoins collected with a pyramid scheme in Brazil

The US Department of Justice has seized $ 24 million worth of bitcoin on behalf of the Brazilian government. This is part of the money that thousands of people have invested in a pyramid scheme that has been operating in Brazil for nearly two years.

According to the note published by the US agency on November 4, the order for seizure it was obtained following an official request from the Brazilian government, based on the treaty between the United States and the Federative Republic of Brazil dated Mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.

The cooperation agreement is applied in the framework of an investigation, called Operation Egypt, advanced by the federal police and the federal revenue secretariat (IRS) in the South American country, around a company called Indeal. This company, which got raise more than $ 200 million from its investors, has been classified by the Brazilian authorities as a fraudulent pyramid scheme.

In this way, the Department of Justice proceeds to confiscate the bitcoins that the Brazilian citizen Marcos Antonio Fagundes, the main operator of Indeal, holds in the United States. This, based on the Brazilian court-issued seizure order, accepted by Judge Trevor N. McFadden in the District of Columbia, USA.

The note adds that the cryptocurrency company, in which the Fagundes accounts in the United States were opened, collaborated with law enforcement authorities to carry out the seizure. The name of the platform where the bitcoins are stored is unknown.

It is guaranteed that, to advance the kidnapping process, the FBI’s Legal Attache in Brasilia, the FBI in Boston, the FBI Working Group on Evolving Threats with Virtual Currencies and the States Marshalling Service United work in cooperation. with the Brazilian authorities.

The money should be promptly sent to Brazil and used compensate the victims of the regime pyramidal. This $ 24 million would add to the approximately $ 170,000 that was recovered from the auction of some other assets of those involved in the fraud.

55,000 investors are expected to make a profit bitcoin

Operation Egypt was launched in May 2019 to find out how Indeal works. Fagundes and four partners operated the financial institution without the authorization of the Central Bank of Brazil, raising funds from third parties without legal authorization.

According to Brazilian media, preventive arrest warrants were issued at the time against owners and employees, as well as the search and seizure of money and property in the hands of those involved. Fagundes was among those arrested, but was released months later by habeas corpus. Now he faces more lawsuits.

The company was based in the city of Novo Hamburgo, in the south-east of the country, and operated between August 2017 and May 2019. The Brazilian authorities estimate that it attracted around 55,000 customers from all over the country, interested in making a profit with bitcoin.

The program has provided the public with innovative investment opportunities via the Internet. Traders have captured money from the public with the promise to run it over cryptomenedas, guaranteeing a yield greater than 15%. However, the Brazilian authorities determined that only a small amount of funds was invested in bitcoin and very little money was returned to investors.

Research indicates that most of the money was used by partners buy real estate, luxury cars, precious stones and other types of goods. For this reason, the people involved were also charged with crimes of fraudulent treatment, financial embezzlement, money laundering and organizing to commit a crime.

Currently, Indeal isn’t the only company in Brazil struggling to function as a pyramid scheme with cryptocurrencies.

At the date, S.is learn about several similar projects what the hellthey rent to justice. This is the case with the Ronaldinho 18K, a pyramid scheme in which player Ronaldinho Gaucho appears as an image. There is also Atlas Quantum, a Brazilian company that has affected around 260,000 users and faces numerous court cases.