Another Ponzi Scrapped – The United States is not kidding around with those who try to rip off their fellow citizens.
They will even look for those responsible far away from the US borders. This time, it was all the way to Panama that the US justice struck, extraditing one of the main perpetrators of the AirBit Club crypto-scam.
Tens of millions of dollars embezzled
Unfortunately, pyramid scam schemes abound in the Crypto Method, which is full of inexperienced investors. In a recent press release, the Department of Justice of the Southern District of New York has just announced that it has just had the co-founder of one of these Ponzis extradited.
Gutemberg Dos Santos, who has dual Brazilian and American citizenship, was first arrested in Panama and then returned to the United States.
Along with 5 other individuals, he is accused of having set up a fake company proposing to invest in mining and trading of cryptomoney:
„Gutemberg Dos Santos played a key role in an international investment scam that promised extraordinary rates of return on phantom investments in crypto-currencies, defrauding victims of tens of millions of dollars. »
Audrey Strauss, U.S. Attorney
A subscription scam
Investors, victims of Dos Santos and his accomplices, were encouraged to invest in AirBit Club based on the promise of „guaranteed“ profits in exchange for cash investments in the various levels of club membership.
Since 2015, they have been encouraging more and more members to join their fake club through multi-level marketing (MLM), which rewarded members for recruiting new people.
In fact, the money collected from AirBit Club members was used by Dos Santos and his accomplices to buy „luxury cars, jewelry and houses“ and finance lavish club promotional conferences to attract more victims into their net.
The defendants also worked to launder the larceny from their system through several national and foreign bank accounts. Judicial authorities estimate that at least $20 million was laundered.
Dos Santos will face 3 charges of electronic fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. He faces up to 20 years in prison on each of the first 2 charges and 30 years in prison on the third.
With 6 of its top members arrested, the international AirBit Club scam now appears to have been put out of business. Unfortunately, since others will certainly take over, keep in mind that the terms „guaranteed profits“ and „extraordinary returns“ should automatically make you wary.