The Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro, together with the Public Ministry, served this Thursday morning (23) four of the six arrest warrants issued against a group accused of carrying out the financial pyramid scam in Niterói and the capital of Rio de Janeiro. Two people are at large.
One of the warrants served was against André Felipe de Oliveira Silva, who was already arrested for possession of a firearm. He is appointed CEO of Atomx Capital Ltda and leader of the gang.
According to investigations, the company began offering monthly gains of up to 16% from supposed investments in variable income. The minimum amount applied should be R$2,500.
It was found that the company had an unsustainable model in which it recruited new people who made deposits as an initial investment. This amount was used to pay profits promised to old customers.
According to customers, deposits were made over a specific period, without the possibility of withdrawal. However, in 2022, Atomx reportedly stopped paying its customers, who went to the police.
To attract customers, Atomx invested massively in marketing, including sponsoring various events and sports athletes. On social media, in addition to images containing information related to investments, publications showing luxury goods also suggested that the scheme would be profitable and safe.
The investigations also demonstrate that, although the contracts offered by Atomx were characterized by a Collective Investment Contract, those investigated did not have authorization from the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM), nor were the companies authorized to invest third-party values.
André Felipe is identified by investigators as a man with great potential for persuasion of victims, who participated in the negotiations and signing of contracts to deceive would-be investors.
This Thursday, André Vitor de Oliveira Silva and Suellen Marques Mendonça, respectively, André Felipe’s brother and wife, were also arrested.
The police found that Suellen was her husband’s right-hand man in the criminal organization, working in the administrative part of the company and supervising employees. In addition to having high financial transactions in his bank account, investigators found that André Felipe bought more than R$1 million in jewelry for his wife, in order to launder money.
André Vitor was the director of Atomx and was responsible for the financial side of the gang. He is also a partner in several companies linked to the criminal scheme.
During the investigations, suspicious financial movements of more than R$77 million were identified, an amount considered incompatible with the assets of the group’s members.
The fourth arrest warrant was against Giovanni Andrade da Costa Leite, a civil police officer responsible for the private security of the main suspects.
In total, 15 people were denounced by the MP for the crimes of armed criminal organization, embezzlement, crime against the popular economy and money laundering, and six arrest warrants were issued.
Nine people, who have not been arrested, will need to comply with some precautionary measures, such as providing a telephone number and other forms of contact to the Court, prohibition on leaving the city in which they reside for more than 15 days without judicial authorization, determination to hand over their passport to authorities and prohibition of having contact with other defendants and carrying out financial consultancy activities.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
