Another day, another Ponzi.
Yesterday morning, 100 police agents spread across three of Brazil’s federal states raided 20 addresses linked to a crypto fraud network controlled by Francisco Valdevino da Silva, aka “Sheikh dos Bitcoins.”
De Silva’s group is suspected of having defrauded and laundered up to 4 billion Brazilian reals (about $766 million) from “thousands” of Brazilians and citizens from at least ten other countries, according to the authorities.
Victims were promised monthly returns of up to 20% on their investments. Da Silva and his goons baited their victims by claiming to have a large team of expert crypto traders dedicated to turning profits.
The gang even reportedly created and marketed their own cryptocurrencies, although on investigation, the assets had no backing or liquidity.
Local news source g1 said that several domestic celebrities were defrauded by da Silva’s scheme, including Sasha Meneghel, daughter of Brazilian television star Xuxa, who reportedly lost 1.2 million reals (about $230,000), alongside several unnamed soccer players.
The federal police nicknamed the raids “Operation Poyais” after the nineteenth-century Scotsman and confidence trickster Gregor MacGregor, who sold bonds and deeds for the fictional country of “Poyais.”
The international investigation began in March this year after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security requested international police cooperation through the global police…
