In a landmark verdict, Pablo Renato Rodriguez, the co-founder of AirBit Club, has been sentenced to 12 years in jail by US District Judge George B. Daniels.
According to the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Rodriguez, alongside together with his co-conspirators, masterminded a sprawling international pyramid scheme that defrauded buyers of thousands and thousands of {dollars} by false guarantees of cryptocurrency buying and selling and mining earnings.
AirBit Co-Founder Convicted For $100 Million Crypto Fraud
Per the DOJ’s investigations, the flowery scheme concerned luring unsuspecting and sometimes inexperienced buyers into buying AirBit Club memberships with the assure of considerable returns.
However, as an alternative of partaking in respectable cryptocurrency actions, Rodriguez and his cohorts allegedly diverted the funds for private acquire whereas using an intricate cash laundering operation to hide their ill-gotten earnings.
Rodriguez’s co-defendants, Gutemberg Dos Santos, Scott Hughes, Cecilia Millan, and Karina Chairez, have already pleaded responsible and await sentencing. The court docket has additionally ordered the forfeiture of the fraudulent proceeds, which embody a staggering $100 million value of belongings, akin to US forex, Bitcoin (BTC), and actual property.
Describing Rodriguez’s actions as a flagrant exploitation of cryptocurrency for fraudulent functions, US Attorney Damian Williams emphasised the significance of this case in deterring potential fraudsters from making false guarantees of profitable cryptocurrency investments.
Troubling Pattern Of Fraudulent Ventures
According to court docket paperwork, Rodriguez and Dos Santos based AirBit Club in 2015 and “aggressively” marketed it as a multilevel advertising membership working within the cryptocurrency business.
The duo reportedly organized extravagant expos and displays worldwide, attractive victims to put money into money and offering them entry to a web-based portal showcasing false funding returns.
As early as 2016, victims who tried to withdraw funds encountered excuses, delays, and exorbitant hidden charges. The scheme’s architects, together with Rodriguez, spent the defrauded cash on luxurious gadgets, financed extra expos to draw further victims, and siphoned funds by a community of home and international financial institution accounts.
According to the DOJ, Rodriguez’s legal professional belief account, managed by Scott Hughes, performed a vital function in concealing the illicit proceeds of the AirBit Club scheme.
Before AirBit Club, Rodriguez and Dos Santos have been concerned in one other pyramid funding scheme known as Vizinova, which led to a authorized battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Hughes, an legal professional representing Rodriguez and Dos Santos within the Vizinova case, later assisted them in perpetrating the AirBit Club fraud by eradicating unfavorable details about each schemes from the web.
With Rodriguez’s sentencing, justice has been served to one of many key figures chargeable for defrauding numerous victims by AirBit Club.
Featured picture from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com