Pastor indicted for multi-million dollar crypto grift: DOJ

A 51-year-old Miami resident and pastor is accused of using his pulpit to defraud unsuspecting souls in a cryptocurrency scam.

According to a January 8 release from the U.S. Department of Justice, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Washington indicted Francier Obando Pinillo on 26 counts of fraud, alleging that he was behind a scheme of cryptocurrency which attracted millions of investors between November 2021 and October. 2023.

Pinillo’s alleged hustle, dubbed “Solano Fi,” was not your average crypto activity. This would have come to him in a “dream”.

As pastor of Ministerio Apostólico Profético Tiempos de Poder, a Spanish-speaking church in Pasco, Washington, Pinillo assured his congregation and other potential investors that Solano Fi was a “safe and guaranteed investment.”

Its promise: a monthly return of 34.9%.

To sweeten the deal, Pinillo reportedly launched a social media blitz, with a Solano Fi Facebook page and a Telegram group called “Multimillionarios SolanoFi,” which had more than 1,500 members.

Shady Solano Fi

The only thing growing in Solano Fi, prosecutors say, was Pinillo’s personal wealth. Instead of gambling investors’ funds as promised, the indictment alleges, he funneled their money into accounts controlled by himself and his co-schemers.

Pinillo also offered 15% referral bonuses to encourage others to join Solano Fi, creating a Ponzi scheme structure and use funds from new investors to pay fictitious profits to previous participants.

Additionally, the online platform he touted would allow investors to visualize their growing wealth. In reality, the online application “was actually designed to allow investors to view alleged fraudulent balances and supposed investment gains, but did not allow them to withdraw funds,” the Ministry of Justice said. Justice. statement bed.

Things got even more creative when investors started asking for their money. Pinillo blamed the faulty website or the bear market in cryptocurrencies. In some cases, he refused to return his investments unless the victim brought in a new investor to “buy out” his account.

“Fraudulent investment schemes are nothing new, but cryptocurrency scams are a new way for fraudsters to take money from honest, hardworking people,” said U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref.

The charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Dan Fruchter and Jeremy J. Kelley, and the FBI is leading the investigation. As for Pinillo, he was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Richland, Washington, where he will need more than faith to see his legal battles through.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission previously filed a civil action against Pinillo, who target primarily Spanish-speaking members of the pastor’s church in Pasco, Washington.