Campina Grande, in the interior of Paraíba, has spent the last few weeks in perplexity and tension. The city known for the “biggest São João in the world” became the epicenter of the latest suspected cryptocurrency scam in Brazil.
Thousands of people from Campinas, motivated by word of mouth among relatives, friends and acquaintances, invested their personal savings under the promise of a financial gain of around 8% per month. It is a rate considered unrealistic by the usual market standards.
The business was offered by a local company, Braiscompany, and had an unconventional model.
Participants converted their money into virtual assets, which were “leased” to the company and remained under its management for a period of one year. Customer earnings represented the payment for “leasing” these cryptocurrencies.
But the dividend remuneration schedule has ceased to be complied with since the end of last year, and the possibility of default hangs in the air.
Antônio Neto Ais, the company’s founder, said in a live that he managed BRL 600 million from 10 thousand people.
Braiscompany did not respond to inquiries made by BBC News Brasil regarding the possibility of not honoring commitments to its clients and other aspects of the case.
‘It’s the GDP of Campina Grande in that’
Rumors about the high financial return paid by Braiscompany, founded in 2018, have spread beyond the borders of Campina Grande. It attracted people from the capital João Pessoa (only 125 km away) and from other places, such as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
But it is the Paraíba city of 400,000 inhabitants that represents the main clientele of “Brais”.
“Boy, you don’t understand… it’s the GDP [Produto Interno Bruto] from Campina Grande that is there. Merchants, civil servants, retirees…”, says a person who invested BRL 50,000 in Braiscompany and does not want to be identified.
“I know people who sold an apartment and put the money there. Merchant who put the company’s finances.”
Another investor, who left Campina Grande 8 years ago to live in Portugal, claims to have transferred BRL 230,000 to the business.
According to him, this value represents all his savings accumulated during that time working as a travel agent in Europe: “Everything I built in my life”.
He thinks he won’t see that money anymore.
“I’m taking this as a grief. The loss of a relative. You know when a mother, father, brother dies? But I have to move on with my life, I have to continue. I was deceived and deceived. And very well deceived.”
It is also one more to use the expression “GDP of Campina Grande” to illustrate the involvement of the local population with greater purchasing power with Braiscompany. He notes, however, that the cryptocurrency scheme has managed to attract even people from the region with less resources.
“The outskirts of Campina Grande have a lot of countryside, farmland, drought, people who face shortages of basic things. People who live from plantations, from cattle, in places like Queimadas, and put in R$ 3,000, R$ 5,000 in this business. There are several families in this.”
For the lawyer specialized in digital assets and blockchain Bernardo Regueira Campos, Braiscompany managed to create “a fear of being left out” of a great opportunity to earn money.
“She made people feel like an outcast if you didn’t invest. Because your friend who got into that bought one [relógio] Rolex, a car for the girlfriend.”
How the founder’s image boosted Braiscompany
In addition to the financial return rate far above what is regularly practiced in the market, a good part of the attraction exerted by Braiscompany is linked to the image of its founder, Antônio Inácio da Silva Neto. He adopted his first three initials as his surname and introduces himself as Antônio Neto Ais.
Her Instagram, with 900,000 followers, is carefully curated posts. They are very well produced photos and messages that try to convey an idea of individual success.
Neto Ais always appears with his hair ironed inside luxury cars, private planes, in trendy international locations and alongside soccer stars and music celebrities.
By the way, a Braiscompany heritage jet, which appears in one of these posts, was sold to a hospital trade company in Espírito Santo last Thursday (2/9) according to Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency) records ).
There are also many business self-help phrases on his Instagram profile such as “going in to win”, “fear is a paralyzer”, “stop thinking like a poor man”, in addition to religious messages (“God is my partner”; “every language who rises up against me God will condemn”).
He also reinforces the image of “family CEO” with posts alongside his children and his wife and co-founder of Braiscompany, Fabricia Ais.
Personally, according to people who came into contact with him, Neto Ais exerts magnetism and shows convincing power.
“He undoubtedly has an incredible power of persuasion and an above-average intelligence. A good thing for these new leaders on the internet, with the attributes of a coach”, says Celino Neto, a social columnist from the Campina Grande region and an influencer.
Celino claims that he began his contact with Neto Ais by commercially promoting Braiscompany events, such as the coverage of the boxes at the São João party, and later joined the investments in the company.
He does not reveal how much he invested in Braiscompany. “Regardless of what the exact amount is, it will be missed.”
Despite considering himself “extremely anxious” about the situation at the moment, the gossip columnist wants to “believe that it will work”, that is, that he will recover the money invested. He also points out that he avoids making accusations against Neto Ais because “there has not yet been a final outcome”.
“That’s funny. He [Neto Ais] It hasn’t been showing up a lot, but when it does, it brings that feeling [de esperança]. I don’t know if it’s that effect of denialism, of finding comfort until reaching the acceptance stage. Maybe I’m living this looping.”
The investor who lives in Portugal says that he participated in a videoconference reserved for people who transferred large sums to Braiscompany.
“His oratory [Neto Ais] it was perfect. The scheme is very well put together, it looks like something from a film producer. It makes you believe that everything will work out, that you will earn a lot of money. Him all dressed up with the people around him… it feels like you’re in a conference room with the strongest businessman in the world.”
Part of the image-building strategy included publicity reports centered on the Ais couple or flattering reports that emphasize a trajectory of overcoming obstacles.
A magazine says that the businessman “born in Cuité, in Curimataú in Paraíba [região do semiárido do Estado]” had a life “composed of many adversities.”
“Antonio took care of the younger brothers while their parents worked.”
The text ends by saying that “Braiscompany and the great success story that Antonio Neto Ais and Fabrícia Ais are building, without a doubt, show how much it is possible to win in life, whatever the circumstance”.
Live to explain
After a period without speaking out, Neto Ais did a 45-minute live on Instagram last Wednesday (2/8) in which he presented his justifications for the suspension of dividend payments to customers.
As in the past, he blamed the problems on cryptocurrency exchange Binance, the world’s largest.
Binance is a kind of exchange for transactions between different virtual assets (for example, bitcoin and ethereum, the two most popular virtual currencies among the thousands that exist) or for converting conventional money into cryptos (and vice versa).
“We bring the basic, true argument that has prevented Braiscompany from following its activities normally, which has been the constant blockages at Binance,” said Neto Ais.
“It’s been a systemic, global hang-up.”
Sought by BBC News Brasil, Binance informed through its communication advisory that “it reinforces its commitment to the protection and security of users, which are a priority for the company. In addition, Binance emphasizes that it works in full collaboration with the authorities to prevent malicious people from using the platform”.
“Binance reiterates that it does not perform any actions on accounts that are not properly based on the terms and conditions, contracts and policies in effect and accepted by all users.”
The businessman also said in the live that “Braiscompany has been investigated for the last four years. So, when people send me articles saying that [a empresa] is being investigated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Federal Police, the Civil Police, this is a natural process”.
What can happen to Braiscompany and Ais Neto
The Public Ministry of Paraíba is investigating the case after complaints made by investors. A process led by the prosecutor of Campina Grande and regional director of MP-Procon, Sócrates da Costa Agra, was initiated on the 26th.
A released note says that the investigations “have advanced a lot in recent days, with information that elucidates the activity of the company Braiscompany and that reinforce the need for judicialization”.
“This week, we had access to important information and set a faster pace for the investigation. We believe that by next week, we will sue Justice, in the civil sphere. So far, everything corroborates the need to trigger a public civil action, the in order to protect the rights of consumers and repair the damage caused to the community”, says Agra.
The Securities Commission (CVM), the body that oversees the securities market, said only that “it monitors and analyzes information and movements within the scope of the Brazilian securities market, taking appropriate measures whenever necessary. The autarchy does not comment on cases specific”.
On January 12, the CVM received a formal complaint against Braiscompany. A process had already been opened in 2020, then transferred to the MP.
According to lawyer specialist in digital assets Pedro Torres, the main service offered by Braiscompany, the “rent” of cryptocurrencies, is prohibited by the Civil Code.
“The wording of article 565 prohibits the rental of fungible goods [aqueles que podem ser substituídos por outros de mesma espécie, qualidade e quantidade]. Under Brazilian law, crypto assets are considered fungible assets. For example, 1 bitcoin can be replaced by 1 bitcoin.”
“From that aspect, Braiscompany’s business is illegal, prohibited by law.”]
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