Singer Perlla’s husband is arrested in a PF operation against a financial pyramid scheme that generated a loss of R$ 4.1 billion

The Federal Police (PF), with the support of the Federal Revenue Service and the National Mining Agency (ANM) launched, this Wednesday (19), an operation to dismantle an organization responsible for setting up a criminal international financial pyramid scheme involving 80 countries, which generated losses of more than R$ 4 billion. So far, five of the organization’s six leaders have been preventively arrested, including businessman Patrick Abrahão, husband of singer Perlla.

The PF also complies with 41 search and seizure warrants, plus the blocking of US$ 20 million and the kidnapping of money in bank accounts, real estate, cars, gold, jewelry, emerald mine, speedboats and crypto assets in the possession of individuals and investigated, by order of the 3rd Federal Court of Campo Grande (MS), in the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Goiás, Maranhão and Santa Catarina.

The investigations began last year, with the arrest of two people involved, as they were heading to Paraguay with an armed escort. The police found emeralds worth US$ 100,000, hidden and without origin, with a canceled invoice.

In view of this, a financial pyramid scheme was discovered that obtained resources from more than 1.3 million people, in more than 80 countries.

The criminal organization massively used social networks, marketing, and meetings in several states and countries, hundreds of regimented “team leaders”, in addition to having the structure and support of a religious entity that belonged to one involved, seeking to raise funds and, with that, manage a company that offered investment packages/financial contributions between US$ 15,000 and US$ 100,000, with the promise of very high daily earnings.

They even said that they were legal in Estonia, and that they would be partners in two financial institutions, but all the companies in the group did not exist.

Those involved were not authorized to raise and manage resources in Brazil, Estonia or any other country, and with warnings from financial entities in several countries such as Spain, Panama and others, of the lack of authorization and that it was a financial pyramid scheme. .

The organization promised profits of 20% per month and 300% per year, for transactions in the crypto-assets market by supposed traders at the service of the company, and which they used to multiply the capital invested and, further urging those who entered the business to attract investors, in a mechanism they called “binary”, providing percentage gains on the amounts invested by new people attracted to the scheme.

The illegality was getting more sophisticated, encompassing supposed investments resulting from profits from diamond and emerald mines that the company would have in Brazil and abroad, in wine markets, travel, solar power plant and recycling. Then, the criminal group created, in 2021, two cryptocurrencies, without financial backing.

Market manipulation was identified to increase the value of one of the currencies by 5,500% in just 15 hours, with a peak of up to 38,000% in the following days. This was to keep the financial pyramid up as long as possible, as cryptocurrencies were used to pay investors.

Shortly after the meteoric and speculative rise made by those involved, cryptocurrencies lost their market value and the price broke several decimal places below the dollar, which resulted in a loss of liquidity.

The organization boasted on social media with millions of followers around the world, showing personal and investment successes, with demonstration of trips to Dubai, Cancun and Europe.

The PF points out that the criminal group moved the money using bank accounts of those involved, shell companies, relatives, and third parties, and the help of a religious entity that reportedly moved BRL 15 million, which also captured investors, to hide and launder money. money from the resources obtained.

One of the organization’s leaders was arrested in Cuba, causing the group to stop paying the amounts in that country, claiming on social media that the Cuban government had prevented the company from helping the country.

After this situation, the organization imposed difficulties in making payments to the injured investors, as a way of guaranteeing their profits, and giving longer deadlines for the redemption, which prevented withdrawals of the amounts contributed by the investors.

Also according to the investigations, those involved combined a “hacker attack”, which in fact happened at the end of 2021, where the leaders of the criminal organization claimed great financial loss with the action, and held the money of investors, and proposing the suspension of all payments arguing the need for a financial audit.

A few months later, the group announced the conclusion of the audit and announced a restructuring of the company, maintaining the scheme and migration to a new network, so that investors could make new investments and continue the business.

But the company’s CEO threatened investors, saying that if he looked for or made a police report, he would be identified, prosecuted and not receive the amount invested back.

Investors complained on social networks, on websites and pages created by the group in order to recover the money invested. But those involved claimed problems in the cryptocurrency market, and once it was resolved, investors would be paid.

Those investigated will answer for crimes of criminal organization, crimes against the financial system for operating without authorization, evasion of currency, money laundering, usurpation of mineral assets of the Federal Union, carrying out research, mining or extraction of mineral resources without authorization, permission, concession or license, misrepresentation and embezzlement through electronic fraud, with penalties that can reach 41 years in prison, without prejudice to the loss of assets and environmental and tax fines to be determined.

The operation has this name because some of the investigated also hold Spanish nationality and because they have artificially devised a plan to set up a billionaire financial pyramid, with their own bank and their own “mint”, manufacturing money. through their own crypto assets without any financial backing and appropriating tens of millions of dollars for their benefit, inflicting damage on more than 1.3 million people in more than 80 countries.