PF makes operation against pyramid scheme that caused losses of R$ 4.1 billion

The Federal Police launched the operation La Casa de Papel this Wednesday morning (19) against a criminal organization suspected of operating financial pyramids in more than 80 countries. According to the investigation, the scheme involves 1.3 million victims, with an estimated loss of R$ 4.1 billion.

The group is also investigated for crimes against the national financial system, evasion of foreign exchange, misrepresentation, money laundering, usurpation of public assets, environmental crime and embezzlement.

The Justice authorized the blocking of US$ 20 million (about R$ 105 million) and the kidnapping of money in bank accounts, very high-end real estate, cattle, vehicles, gold, jewelry, luxury items, emerald mine, speedboats and crypto assets. . One of the investigated owns a religious entity that helped to publicize the scheme to the faithful.

According to the PF, six people led the criminal organization. All had their preventive detention decreed on Wednesday. The Federal Court of Campo Grande, in Mato Grosso do Sul, also issued 41 search and seizure warrants at addresses in the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Goiás, Maranhão and Santa Catarina.

“The investigation began in the city of Dourados (MS) in August 2021, with two of the investigated persons being charged in the act, as they were moving towards the border with Paraguay with an armed escort. US$ 100 thousand, which were hidden and had no legal origin, as they were supported by a canceled invoice”, says the PF.

The police report that during the investigations they discovered the financial pyramid scheme, which would have started in 2019 and was still in operation.

Also according to the investigation, the criminal organization used social media to publicize the scheme and had the support of a religious entity belonging to one of the leaders of the scheme to attract investors.

Victims were lured with promises of profit of 20% per month and up to 300% per year in the cryptocurrency market. After joining the scheme, they were influenced by supposed traders to attract more people to the pyramid, in a mechanism they called “binary”.

The group that operated in Brazil claimed to be a partner in two legalized financial institutions in Estonia, but investigations proved that the companies did not exist.

“The investigated did not have any authorization to capture and manage the funds raised in Brazil, Estonia, or any other country, and they also had several alerts from financial agencies in several countries, such as Spain, Panama, among others, in the sense of the absence authorization and that it was a financial pyramid scheme”, informed the PF.

Scheme was stopped in Cuba after arrest of one of the leaders

According to the PF, after the arrest of one of the leaders of the criminal organization in Cuba, the “founders” interrupted the payments of amounts to Cuban investors under the justification, published on social networks, that the Cuban government had prevented the company from helping the country.

Afterwards, they began to impose difficulties in making payments to the injured investors and, as a way of guaranteeing their profits, began to establish increasingly longer deadlines for victims to be able to redeem the money.

Alleged hacker attack was used to not pay investors

The investigation found that the suspects announced, in late 2021, that they had been victims of a hacker attack causing great financial damage to the group and preventing investors from being able to withdraw the money. The argument was that payments had to be all suspended for the company to undergo a financial audit.

Anyone who went to the police or filed a lawsuit against the group would not receive the money back, would have threatened the company’s CEO.

Operation was inspired by a Spanish series

According to the PF, the operation was called “La Casa de Papel”, because some of those investigated have Spanish nationality. As in the fiction, the criminal group also had a plan to create its own bank and its own “mint”, through the manufacture of crypto assets. The action also had the support of the Federal Revenue Service and the ANM (National Mining Agency).