The promise of making money quickly, easily and effortlessly through renting bitcoins and other types of crypto has attracted many investors. Many of them, however, are falling victim to scams.
This is what happened to model Sasha Meneghel, her husband, gospel singer João Figueiredo, and at least 350 other people who are suing the Bitcoin rental company Rental Coins in the Courts of Justice of Paraná, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. January. In the Federal District, there is an investigation by the Civil Police with 35 victims.
The scam involved businessman Francisley Valdevino da Silva, Francis Silva, known as Sheik dos Bitcoins. Silva, who owns Rental Coins and is listed as the owner of more than 130 companies, was once a partner of Pastor Silas Malafaia in a digital store focused on the evangelical segment.
Sasha’s case runs in secret, but, according to the report of Sheet found, the couple invested R$ 1.2 million in the business and did not get the promised return. The action asks for compensation for moral and material damages because, according to the arguments, the negotiation would have been carried out involving the trust of the victims.
The model would have met the businessman in worship at an evangelical church. Initially, the couple would have invested R$ 50 thousand and, after the returns with the rent, made contributions of more than R$ 1 million. However, as with many of the victims, after a period, the rent is no longer paid. With that, in April, the couple went to court against Silva.
Understand the Bitcoin scam
According to experts, renting cryptocurrencies works like renting a property and has been growing in Brazil. There are cases where the business is reliable, but many have involved fraudulent actions, especially when it comes to pyramid schemes, in which the company promises a higher level to those who invest more in the business, or when the company offers the rent even to those who still does not have any cryptocurrency, but can invest amounts of money.
In bitcoin rental, the investor rents his crypto asset to a specialized company and receives an amount per month, according to a percentage determined in the contract, which establishes a term for the lease and the return of the assets at the end. In the case involving Sasha, the percentages ranged from 0.5% to 5%.
On its website, Rental Coins uses the rental property analogy to explain its cryptocurrency business. “You have a property in the center of the city, which you acquired with the objective of profiting from its appreciation. Instead of leaving the property closed only for appreciation, you decide to use it to make an extra income and rent it, receiving a monthly percentage for it”, says company text.
“It also works like this when you rent your digital asset, for a certain period of time, and receive a variable percentage monthly for your assigned crypto asset”, adds the explanation.
The report tried to contact Rental Coins several times, without success. On the website, there is only one email from the ombudsman, which does not work. The only option was to register to obtain more information, which was not done, since this registration involves sending documents.
Federal Police investigate company
The main lawsuits against Francis Silva are in Paraná, the company’s headquarters. That’s where Sasha and Figueiredo sue the Sheik. In the local Court of Justice, there are 248 cases involving Rental Coins as a defendant. There is also an investigation by the Federal Police with complaints from all over the country.
The case was being investigated by the Public Ministry of Paraná, but with the beginning of the investigation through the Federal Police, it became criminal and also runs in secret. Your details will only be revealed at the end of the investigation.
“Recently, the competence to prosecute and judge the deed was declined to the Federal Court, in view of the fact that the case is already being investigated by the Federal Police”, says a note from the MP. There is also the civil inquiry, which is carried out in court secrecy to protect the victims’ financial data.
In São Paulo, the latest survey of the report made this Tuesday (12) points to 116 cases involving Rental Coins. One of the cases involves former judge Janguiê Diniz, famous on social media. he did not respond to Sheet until the publication of this text.
In Rio de Janeiro, there are two processes, but there are clients being assisted by lawyers who monitor the condition of the victims’ investment. The lawyer Luciano Regis, from Luciano Regis Advocacia, says he studies several cases to file lawsuits.
Experts indicate how to identify fraud
“There is no illegality in the rental of cryptocurrencies, because the law does not prevent this realization, however it lacks a logic. hurt people.”
Paulo Aragão, co-founder of the company CriptoFácil, says that this rental practice is something that has been offered for some time. The tip to know if it is a scam or not is to pay attention to what is being offered. In general, fixed income per bitcoin rental does not exist.
“It’s a very volatile market and there’s no way you can guarantee a kind of monthly profitability. If we look at it retrospectively, part of the companies that offered this, to invest money and you earn a fixed income were, in fact, pyramids, where you could only pay the next one with the entry of new people.”
Silas Malafaia says he dissolved the partnership in March
Pastor Silas Malafaia confirmed his partnership with Francis Silva, but states that he ended the partnership with the businessman in March, when he began to receive information that there could be failures in Silva’s business. He denies that in his church there was any incentive to invest in bitcoin.
Sought after, the Rental Coins lawyer did not respond to the report until the publication of this text.
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