Former Pasco pastor, Francier Obando Pinillo, indicted for orchestrating a multi-million greenback crypto rip-off concentrating on buyers.
A former pastor from Pasco, Washington, has been indicted for his alleged involvement in a multi-million greenback cryptocurrency fraud scheme. The fees had been introduced by U.S. Legal professional Vanessa Waldref, on January 8, 2025. They’re accusing the pastor, Francier Obando Pinillo, of fraudulently amassing cash from buyers between November 2021 and October 2023. In accordance with a launch from the U.S. Division of Justice, he faces 26 counts of fraud. The federal grand jury within the Japanese District of Washington filed the indictment.
An arraignment of Pinillo, 51, of Miami, Florida, on January 12, 2025, was at U.S. District Court docket in Richland, Washington. He was the pastor of Ministerio Apostolico Profetico Tiempos de Poder, a Spanish-language church in Pasco, Washington. The indictment additionally alleges that utilizing his place Pinillo satisfied church members and others to spend money on a cryptocurrency enterprise, ‘Solano Fi.’ Solano Fi was an concept that got here to Pinillo in a dream, he claimed. It was a secure and assured funding, he mentioned.
Former Pastor Faces Fraud Costs Over $34M Crypto Rip-off
To recruit buyers, Pinillo used numerous social media platforms reminiscent of a Fb web page and a Telegram group. The group had over 1,500 members and was referred to as “Multimillionarios SolanoFi.” There’s a group referred to as “Multimillionarios SolanoFi” and it has greater than 1,500 followers.” Solano Fi, officers with the corporate informed buyers, used cryptocurrency’staking’ to ensure month-to-month returns of 34.9% with no threat. Traders, he mentioned, might entry and withdraw their cash via an internet platform. The platform was, nevertheless, fraudulent, in keeping with the indictment. That they had a pretend steadiness and faux positive aspects of their accounts however couldn’t make withdrawals.
Pinillo invested that cash as a substitute with himself and his coconspirators. To encourage buyers to exit to recruit others, he promised that shareholders would earn extra returns for each new investor. Pinillo later mentioned that when the victims wanted to withdraw their cash he made excuses. He’ll say the web site was down, the market wasn’t adequate, or they want to usher in a brand new investor to allow them to purchase out the account.
Victims had been informed by Pinillo additionally they wanted to ship extra money to “restore” the system. In actuality he was taking the funds of those folks for himself. If convicted of Pinillo’s costs, he faces as much as 20 years in jail.
Cryptocurrency scams have grow to be a brand new means that fraudsters goal sincere folks and steal their cash, U.S. Legal professional Waldref mentioned. The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dan Fruchter and Jeremy J. Kelley are prosecuting the case.