- 128 years for a $190M crypto rip-off places Joel de Souza in jail
- Braiscompany’s false buying and selling guarantees price 20,000 traders cash.
Joel Ferreira de Souza was handed a 128-year jail sentence by a Brazilian courtroom on April 18, 2025. Braiscompany arrange the $190 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme, and the courtroom convicted him for it.
The rip-off ran from June 2018 until early 2023 and defrauded round 20,000 traders. Media studies state that Braiscompany promised to generate 8% day by day returns via crypto buying and selling. Prosecutors mentioned that the operation additionally concerned the usage of shell corporations and unregulated crypto wallets for laundering funds.
Choose Vinicius Costa Vidor convicted De Souza for working an unlicensed monetary establishment and interesting in cash laundering. The courtroom additionally recognized him because the mastermind behind the pyramid scheme.
Two different executives, Gesana Rayane Silva and Victor Veronez acquired 27 and 15 years. They acted as an middleman managing consumer funds. The mixed sentences complete 171 years.
Authorities mentioned the 5 folks organized the scheme. The corporate had raised R$1.11 billion, or $190 million. The operators used casual cash transfers and performed transactions with excessive commissions.
Belongings valued at R$36 million had been ordered to be seized by the courtroom. The victims won’t know the way a lot will likely be returned to them. Artêmio Picanço, a lawyer representing traders, informed Reuters a sufferer has to file a civil declare to shortly recuperate the cash.
The courtroom acquitted Mizael Moreira Silva and Clélio Fernando Cabral do Ó, declaring them not responsible of all fees. The courtroom dominated that they lacked proof to show that they had been concerned in cash laundering.
Particulars of the Braiscompany Scheme
Braiscompany marketed that it was a crypto buying and selling firm. It promised excessive returns and attracted traders. The corporate used aggressive advertising, slick promotional supplies, and different such issues to lure prospects.
The platform required traders to lock of their funds for a full yr. The corporate claimed earnings got here from proprietary buying and selling software program, however investigators uncovered no hint of such software program or any precise buying and selling exercise.
All through 2022, Braiscompany repeatedly postponed investor withdrawals, and by January 2023, disbursements had successfully come to a standstillFollowing the collapse in February 2023, Brazil’s Federal Police launched Operation Halving to research the incident.
Police searched Braiscompany’s places of work. When the corporate’s founders, Antônio Ais and Fabrícia Farias Campos, fled to Argentina. In February 2024, the courtroom sentenced them to 88 and 61 years in jail and authorised their extradition.
Influence on Buyers and Regulation
The battle entails 20,000 traders looking for to recoup their losses. The victims can solely entry seized property via civil claims which they should undergo.
The case has uncovered the absence of crypto regulation in Brazil. They’re calling for nearer monitoring of cryptocurrency platforms. Such an occasion demonstrates the hazards associated to uncontrolled crypto investments.
The courtroom mentioned the scheme was a mannequin of a reputable funding. The scheme had additionally masked unlawful actions via complicated monetary constructions. This sophistication that the authorities took a very long time to detect.