US authorities charged Pablo Renato Rodriguez, Gutemberg Dos Santos, Scott Hughes, Cecilia Millan, and Jackie Aguilar for their roles in an international scheme responsible for defrauding individuals through investments in AirBit Club, a purported cryptocurrency mining and trading company. According to the allegations in the indictment unsealed on Tuesday, Rodriguez, Dos Santos, Hughes, Millan, and Aguilar participated in a coordinated scheme in which investors were lured in to invest in AirBit Club based on the promise of guaranteed profits in exchange for cash investments in club “memberships.”
AirBit Club operated as a multilevel marketing club in the cryptocurrency industry.
Launched in late 2015, AirBit Club marketed as a multilevel marketing club in the cryptocurrency industry through its founders, Rodriguez and Dos Santos, and its promoters, including Millan and Aguilar. Operators falsely promised the victims that AirBit Club earned returns on crypto mining and trading and that victims would earn passive, guaranteed daily returns on any membership purchased. While the victims saw “profits” accumulate on their Online Portal, those representations were false. Instead, operators enriched themselves, and spent victim money on cars, jewelry, and luxury homes, and financed extravagant expos to recruit more victims.
Defendants allegedly laundered nearly $20 million in proceeds of the scheme.
Rodriguez, Dos Santos, Hughes, and Millan sought to conceal the AirBit Club Scheme by laundering the scheme’s proceeds through several domestic and foreign bank accounts, including an attorney trust account managed by Hughes. In total, the defendants laundered at least $20 million in proceeds of the scheme. Rodriguez, Dos Santos, Hughes, and Millan sought to conceal the crypto scheme by laundering the proceeds through several domestic and foreign bank accounts, including an attorney trust account managed by Hughes. In total, the defendants allegedly laundered at least $20 million in proceeds of the scheme.
