Indicted pastor saw his crypto scam idea in a dream
A US pastor has been indicted for allegedly operating a cryptocurrency scam. This is unusual, but what’s even more bizarre is that the padre told investigators that the idea came to him in a dream.
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A US pastor has been indicted for allegedly operating a cryptocurrency scam. This is unusual, but what’s even more bizarre is that the padre told investigators that the idea came to him in a dream.
According to the US Department of Justice (DOJ), pastor Francier Obando Pinillo used his position to recruit investors into a fraudulent crypto venture called “Solano Fi.”
He’s now been indicted on 26 counts of fraud because the scam – which Pinillo called a “guaranteed investment” – defrauded investors of millions of dollars between 2021 and 2023.
“Pinillo used his position as pastor to induce members of his congregation and others to invest their money in a cryptocurrency investment business known as Solano Fi,” said the DOJ in a statement.
“Pinillo claimed the idea for Solano Fi had come to him in a dream and that it was a safe and guaranteed investment.”
The DOJ also said that Pinillo additionally recruited investors through social media, including a “Solano Fi” Facebook page as well as a Telegram group “Multimillionarios SolanoFi.” The latter had attracted more than 1,500 members.
The scheme that promised a monthly return of 34.9% might have seemed proper to the victims as Pinillo told them they could access, view, and withdraw their money from “Solano Fi” through an online interface.
But all they actually saw were fraudulent purported balances and gains – the interface didn’t really permit the investors to withdraw funds.
The DOJ announcement states that rather than investing funds on victims’ behalf as he had promised, Pinillo converted the funds to himself and his co-schemers.
And when people tried to remove their money from “Solano Fi,” he claimed he needed to wait until cryptocurrency markets improved – or that he couldn’t do it because the website or application was down. Pinillo was charged in December.
“Fraudulent investment schemes are not new, but cryptocurrency scams are a new way fraudsters take money from hardworking, honest people,” said US Attorney Vanessa Waldref.
Indeed, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation said in October that in 2023, they received nearly 70,000 complaints of cryptocurrency crime and reported that companies around the US collectively lost almost $6 billion that year.