You Won’t Believe How Long These Crypto Scammers Are Going to Prison! 😱

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Well, well, well… Looks like the crypto world just got a little less “get rich quick” and a lot more “oh, dear, that was a bad idea.” Three masterminds behind one of Brazil’s most notorious crypto scams have been handed sentences totaling over 170 years. Yes, you read that right, 170 years. They’ll have plenty of time to reflect on their shady ways. 😏

At the heart of it all? Braiscompany, a business that promised people a fortune but instead delivered a fraud. You know, classic crypto scam behavior. 🙄 Joel Ferreira de Souza, the ringleader, was hit hardest with a whopping 128 years, 5 months, and 28 days. That’s almost as long as it takes to get rich on crypto, apparently… except he’s going to be in a very different kind of “blockchain.”

He wasn’t just running around scamming people—he created fake companies, hid money in secret crypto wallets, and moved massive amounts of cash like a crypto ninja. Federal Judge Vinicius Costa Vidor made it clear that these guys were all about “disguising the illicit origin of their ill-gotten gains.” Yeah, we get it, you’re not the first to try to pull this off. 🙄

Then there’s Gesana Rayane Silva, who got 27 years and 10 months for keeping the money moving and making sure the scam kept rolling. And let’s not forget Victor Augusto Veronez de Souza, Joel’s very own son, who got a measly 15 years for helping out with the “illegal transactions.” Dad must be so proud. 🙃

All of this comes after Brazil’s Federal Prosecutor’s Office exposed their pyramid scheme that swindled R$1.11 billion (that’s about US$190 million, people) from 20,000 investors. These poor folks thought they were investing in crypto trading. Spoiler alert: they were actually funding a fancy fraud. 😬

Oh, and the group also had R$36 million seized, but who knows how much of that will actually make its way back to the victims. Lawyer Artêmio Picanço, representing the victims, urged them to act fast because, you know, the state is coming for that cash. 🏃‍♂️💨

Two people were let off because they had zero to do with the scheme. The others? They created a system that looked legit on the outside but was essentially a VIP club where only the insiders got to cash out. Oh, the audacity!

This case just keeps giving—last year, Braiscompany’s founder Antonio Inacio Da Silva Neto and his partner Fabricia Farias Campos were arrested in Argentina and extradited to Brazil. Da Silva Neto got 88 years in prison, while Campos received 61 years and 11 months. A true family affair! 😅

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2025-04-18 18:15