“After the breakup, the former player was involved in a pyramid and his image, given his credibility and popularity, encouraged thousands of people to invest in a fraud, which caused damage to them”, the prosecutor declared.
Promising High Returns Under Scrutiny
According to a recent local report, Ronaldinho allegedly could not attend a court hearing in Brazil due to bad weather. As a consequence, airlines canceled flights to Porto Alegre, where authorities had scheduled the hearing.
The report states that Ronaldinho along with his brother Assis and business partner Marcelo Lara, were to testify before the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry. The allegations assert that the company owned by the trio, 18K Ronaldinho operated a crypto scam in the form of a pyramid scheme.
The guaranteed high daily returns allegedly caught the attention of authorities:
“The company claimed to work with cryptocurrency trading and arbitration and promised its clients income of up to 2% per day, allegedly based on operations with digital currencies, which raised suspicions that it was a financial pyramid due to promises of high and fast payment returns.”
Authorities have been closely monitoring high-yield promises in the crypto industry lately.
On July 13, CEO of bankrupt crypto lender Celsius, Alex Mashinsky, was arrested. This came after the Securities and Exchange Commission took legal action against both him and Celsius, after its collapse last year. Several of the charges involve Celsius misleading customers about earning high rates of returns on their digital assets.
Mashinsky was also accused of running a Ponzi scheme, allegedly manipulating the price of Celsius Network’s native token, CEL, so he could sell his own CEL tokens at artificially inflated prices.
Celsius Network (CEL) Price Chart 1 Year. Source: BeInCrypto
Reportedly, Ronaldinho might also be subject to handcuffs to ensure his appearance in court. It also suggests that his fame will not provide any special privileges in the legal proceedings:
“Why? It is not because of the condition of being a player or not, of being rich or poor, and Mr. Ronaldinho has a lot to say to this CPI and to the Brazilian people, he and his partners,’ the prosecutor allegedly declared.
To learn more about crypto scams, Read BeInCrypto’s guide: 15 Most Common Crypto Scams To Look Out For
Ronaldinho’s History With Crypto Projects
This is not the first time that Ronaldinho has been associated with a crypto project.
In July 2021, Ronaldinho launched a non-fungible token (NFT) collection, in partnership with NFT creative studio INFLUXO.
To bid on the limited edition NFTs, bidders had to show proof of funds in their wallet when the auction commenced.
Several NFT holders had the opportunity to redeem a feature that unlocked an in-person experience with Ronaldinho in Dubai. The package also included a round-trip ticket and a two-day stay.