In a brazen scam that left thousands of victims in the dust, AirBit Club’s co-founder Pablo Renato Rodriguez and his cohorts peddled a fake virtual currency mining and trading scheme to unsuspecting investors. The pyramid scheme, which began in late 2015, promised guaranteed daily returns on virtual currency investments, but in reality, no such mining or trading took place.
Promoters, including Cecilia Millan and Karina Chairez, hosted lavish expos and small community presentations to convince victims to purchase AirBit Club memberships and further promote the scheme. Meanwhile, victims saw “profits” accumulate on their online portal, only to find out later that it was all a ruse.
In August 2020, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York charged five defendants, including Rodriguez and Gutemberg Dos Santos, another AirBit co-founder. The duo was sentenced in September 2023, while Cecilia Millan and Karina Chairez were sentenced in October 2023, ordered to forfeit all of their fraudulent proceeds.
The U.S. government has forfeited over $400 million in assets, which will be used to compensate eligible victims for their losses. Victims who have previously provided their information to the FBI or U.S. Attorney’s Office will be contacted by the remission administrator, RCB Fund Services, LLC, to file a petition. For more information, visit the official website at https://www.airbitvictimfund.com/ or contact RCB at (800) 765-7551.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division vowed to pursue those who abuse new technologies to steal from hardworking individuals. U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York added that investor euphoria over new technology is often fertile ground for fraudsters, and that the defendants’ convictions and asset recoveries will deter others from targeting victims with false promises of high returns.
Rodriguez, Dos Santos, Millan, Chairez, and attorney Scott Hughes are all behind bars, facing justice for their roles in the multimillion-dollar pyramid scheme. The outcome should serve as a warning to anyone tempted to target others with false promises of high returns in virtual currency investments.
Source: Department of Justice
