- 128 years for a $190M crypto scam puts Joel de Souza in prison
- Braiscompany’s false trading promises cost 20,000 investors money.
Joel Ferreira de Souza was handed a 128-year prison sentence by a Brazilian court on April 18, 2025. Braiscompany set up the $190 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme, and the court convicted him for it.
The scam ran from June 2018 till early 2023 and defrauded around 20,000 investors. Media reports state that Braiscompany promised to generate 8% daily returns through crypto trading. Prosecutors said that the operation also involved the use of shell companies and unregulated crypto wallets for laundering funds.
Judge Vinicius Costa Vidor convicted De Souza for operating an unlicensed financial institution and engaging in money laundering. The court also identified him as the mastermind behind the pyramid scheme.
Two other executives, Gesana Rayane Silva and Victor Veronez got 27 and 15 years. They acted as an intermediary managing client funds. The combined sentences total 171 years.
Authorities said the five people organized the scheme. The company had raised R$1.11 billion, or $190 million. The operators used informal money transfers and conducted transactions with high commissions.
Assets valued at R$36 million were ordered to be seized by the court. The victims will not know how much will be returned to them. Artêmio Picanço, a lawyer representing investors, told Reuters a victim has to file a civil claim to quickly recover the money.
The court acquitted Mizael Moreira Silva and Clélio Fernando Cabral do Ó, declaring them not guilty of all charges. The court ruled that they lacked evidence to prove that they were involved in money laundering.
Details of the Braiscompany Scheme
Braiscompany advertised that it was a crypto trading company. It promised high returns and attracted investors. The company used aggressive marketing, slick promotional materials, and other such things to lure customers.
The platform required investors to lock in their funds for a full year. The company claimed profits came from proprietary trading software, but investigators uncovered no trace of such software or any actual trading activity.
Throughout 2022, Braiscompany repeatedly postponed investor withdrawals, and by January 2023, disbursements had effectively come to a standstillFollowing the collapse in February 2023, Brazil’s Federal Police launched Operation Halving to investigate the incident.
Police searched Braiscompany’s offices. When the company’s founders, Antônio Ais and Fabrícia Farias Campos, fled to Argentina. In February 2024, the court sentenced them to 88 and 61 years in jail and approved their extradition.
Impact on Investors and Regulation
The battle involves 20,000 investors seeking to recoup their losses. The victims can only access seized assets through civil claims which they have to go through.
The case has exposed the absence of crypto regulation in Brazil. They are calling for closer monitoring of cryptocurrency platforms. Such an event demonstrates the dangers related to uncontrolled crypto investments.
The court said the scheme was a model of a legitimate investment. The scheme had also masked illegal activities through complex financial structures. This sophistication that the authorities took a long time to detect.
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