Three men were sentenced to 170 years in prison for a Bitcoin Ponzi scheme in Brazil, which defrauded investors of approximately $190 million. The scheme, operated through Braiscompany, promised false returns on investments. The defendants were ordered to repay R$36.5 million to investors and had assets seized. This represents Brazil’s largest crypto scam to date.
This week, a Brazilian court sentenced three men to a total of 170 years in prison for their involvement in a fraudulent Bitcoin investment scheme, resulting in investor losses of approximately $190 million. The convictions related to their operation of Braiscompany, identified by prosecutors as a Ponzi scheme.
Joel Ferreira de Souza, Gesana Rayane da Silva, and Victor Augusto Veronez de Souza were sentenced as their actions deceived around 20,000 investors. The court highlighted that the company promised inflated returns on Bitcoin investments and faced accusations of being a pyramid scheme since 2021.
Prosecutors claimed Ferreira de Souza was the primary orchestrator of the scheme, receiving a sentence of 128 years. The total funds misappropriated amounted to over 1.1 billion Brazilian reais. The defendants were also ordered to return R$36.5 million (approximately $6.2 million) to affected investors following the seizure of some of their assets.
Reports suggest that this incident represents the largest cryptocurrency scam in Brazil’s history. As the leading economy in Latin America, Brazil is a burgeoning hub for cryptocurrency, featuring more Bitcoin ETFs than any other country in the region while traditional banks provide significant digital asset investment opportunities.
