Brazilian Police Issue Warrants Against Alleged Leader of $767M Crypto Pyramid Scheme

Francisley Valdevino da Silva, known as the "cryptocurrency sheik," has 20 seizure warrants against him.

AccessTimeIconOct 7, 2022 at 5:35 p.m. UTC
Updated May 9, 2023 at 3:58 a.m. UTC
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This article is adapted from CoinDesk Brasil, a partnership between CoinDesk and InfoMoney, one of Brazil's leading financial news publications. Follow CoinDesk Brasil on Twitter.

On Thursday, a hundred police officers took to the streets of six Brazilian cities to serve search and seizure warrants against Francisley Valdevino da Silva, who is accused of running a cryptocurrency pyramid scheme that raised $767 million.

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  • At the time of publication, there was no news on whether he had been arrested. The justice also decreed that da Silva’s assets be seized and blocked.

    According to a Brazilian Police report, da Silva, known as the “cryptocurrency sheik” and a former U.S. resident, raised more than four billion reals (US$767 million) by promising high returns through alleged crypto operations since 2016.

    According to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement press release, the Brazilian Federal Police executed 20 search and seizure warrants in four Brazilian states in the case for crimes including money laundering and fraud.

    The U.S. agency said that “the organization allegedly deceived investors in over a dozen countries by falsely claiming that they had developed fully functioning, cutting-edge cryptocurrency-related financial products.”

    According to the Brazilian Police report, da Silva's lawyer said his client is cooperating with the police and had already made himself available.

    This article was translated by Andrés Engler, and edited by CoinDesk. The original Portuguese can be found here.

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    CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

    Paulo Alves

    Paulo Alves is a crypto editor at InfoMoney, a leading financial news publication in Brazil.


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