Two more promoters of the Forcount crypto ponzi scheme – a Brazil-based scam that bilked Spanish-speaking investors out of $8.4 million between 2017 and 2021 – have pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme.
On July 22, Nestor Nunez, 66, and Antonia Perez Hernandez, 49, separately pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which has a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
Prosecutors say Nunez, a Spanish citizen, was paid to present himself as the CEO of the Forcount scheme, using the alias “Salvador Molina.” The real ringleader of the scheme was allegedly 39-year-old Brazilian national Francisley Da Silva, who was arrested by Brazilian authorities in 2022. Hernandez was a senior promoter of the scheme.
Between 2017 and 2021, Forcount’s promoters targeted Spanish speakers all over the world, often via lavish promotional gatherings, promising them high returns based on profit-sharing from non-existent crypto mining and trading activities.
According to court documents, Forcount’s promoters lured their victims in by promising them “financial freedom” and flaunting their own personal wealth in the form of luxury cars and designer clothing – while simultaneously stealing investor deposits and laundering their ill-gotten gains through shell companies and real estate.
One of Nunez and Hernandez’s co-conspirators, American citizen Juan Tacuri, 46, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in June. He also agreed to forfeit $4 million in criminal proceeds, as well as real estate purchased with victim funds, as part of his plea bargain.
Tacuri will be sentenced in New York on Sept. 24 by District Judge Analisa Torres, the judge who is overseeing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) suit against crypto company Ripple.
Torres will sentence Nunez on Nov. 11. No sentencing date has yet been set for Hernandez.
Edited by Nikhilesh De.