Claudio Oliveira, the head of Bitcoin Banco Group, and other members were arrested for embezzling $300 million.
Similar plans were also devised by Oliveira in Europe and the United States.
Claudio Oliveira, commonly known as “Bitcoin King,” the president of Bitcoin Banco Group, a Brazilian Bitcoin brokerage firm, has been arrested on charges of bankruptcy, embezzlement, operating a criminal organization in Brazil, and money laundering.
The company gained to prominence as a result of its excessive returns, which attracted tens of thousands of investors. Bitcoin Banco Group was investigated in May 2019 after claiming that its platform had been hacked but failing to provide sufficient evidence. As a result, a former client launched a lawsuit against the firm. On June 6, the court ordered Oliveira and his team to present evidence of the alleged hack. According to several accounts, the firm reached an agreement with the lawsuit in July.
About 20,000 consumers were allegedly affected by the purported attack. Angry investors had launched almost 200 lawsuits against the firm by September. The judge subsequently ordered the account to be frozen.
The president of the Bitcoin Banco Group claimed 25,000 bitcoins.
After revealing that 7,000 Bitcoins in investor funds had vanished, Bitcoin Banco Group filed a Judicial Recovery with a bankruptcy court in Curitiba, hoping to reach a deal with authorities and avoid bankruptcy by looking into various ways to reimburse creditors.
The company, on the other hand, disregarded its bankruptcy court obligations by failing to reimburse creditors as it resumed normal operations. By developing a “public collective investment contract,” Bitcoin Banco Group allegedly continued to persuade more customers. This was done to imply that it had not registered with the Brazilian Securities Commission.
The sum disclosed by the audited data differs significantly from the amount claimed by the corporation, according to the attorney for the impacted investors. Furthermore, the corporation failed to give wallet data that could have helped the matter be resolved.
Through a three-year investigation, “Operation Daemon,” which involved roughly 90 federal police officers from Curitiba and the metropolitan region, it was determined that the organization had embezzled R$1.5 billion (US$300 million). According to a leaked tax return from 2018, the firm’s president claimed nearly 25,000 BTC, as well as 14 houses in Brazil and other assets.
One preventative arrest warrant, four temporary arrest warrants, and 22 search and seizure orders were then served on other members of the Bitcoin Banco Group. Oliveira was also said to have orchestrated similar schemes in the United States and Europe.
Bitcoin Banco Group (Bitcoin Banco Group)/n
