US Pastor Accused of Massive $6 Million Crypto Scam
Date: 2024-12-12 Author: Henry Casey Categories: IN WORLD
Since 2021, Pasco-based Pastor Francier Obando Pinillo has been soliciting his parishioners and others to invest in cryptocurrency. He claimed that his platform Solanofi and related companies Solano Partners Ltd. and Solano Capital Investments could earn up to 35% profit monthly thanks to automated trading bots.
Pinillo specifically targeted a Spanish-speaking audience that was unfamiliar with cryptocurrency. To create the appearance of trustworthiness, he provided investors with access to online dashboards with fake data about their supposedly successful investments. He also actively encouraged new members through referral rewards.
However, as it turned out, there was no real platform. The pastor appropriated all the funds invested by investors. Thus, he received about $6 million.
Many victims of the scheme were church parishioners, which created a high level of trust in the pastor. This circumstance, according to the investigation, played a key role in the success of the fraudulent scheme, since people were less likely to doubt his proposals.
Pinillo, in his defense, stated that he did not intend to cause harm and that his actions were unintentional. However, the CFTC is demanding not only compensation for damages to the victims, but also criminal punishment for the pastor.
Cryptocurrency fraud is not uncommon. Earlier, independent on-chain analyst ZachXBT exposed a criminal who swindled more than $6.5 million from users by pretending to be a Coinbase exchange support employee.
