A pastor from Washington state, Francier Obando Pinillo, has been indicted for allegedly defrauding over 1,500 people through a cryptocurrency scheme called Solano Fi.
Prosecutors claim Pinillo used his position to promote the venture, which he described as a “dream-inspired” opportunity promising guaranteed returns.
Authorities allege Pinillo convinced members of his congregation and online followers to invest, claiming Solano Fi traded cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum while offering risk-free monthly returns of up to 35%. However, instead of delivering on these promises, investors were shown fake account balances on the Solano Fi platform and were often denied withdrawals. Some were told they needed to recruit new participants to access their funds, a tactic commonly associated with pyramid schemes.
The scheme, which operated between November 2021 and October 2023, allegedly misappropriated $6 million, with funds diverted for personal use. Prosecutors claim Pinillo recruited victims through church connections, social media platforms, and Telegram groups, further expanding the scam’s reach.
The Justice Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have charged Pinillo with multiple counts of fraud. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison. Efforts to recover the stolen funds are underway, but officials warn that tracing crypto assets poses significant challenges.
The U.S. Department of Justice has sentenced Dwayne Golden, 57, of Pennsylvania to 97 months in prison for orchestrating a fraudulent crypto investment scheme that stole over $40 million from investors.
The first half of 2025 has become the most damaging six-month period in crypto history, with over $2.1 billion stolen across 75+ separate incidents, according to new data.
A new breed of cyber-attack is sweeping through crypto media, exploiting site pop-ups and wallet-connect prompts instead of smart-contract bugs.
CoinMarketCap, one of the most widely used crypto data tracking platforms, is reportedly facing a front-end security breach, with multiple users encountering a suspicious prompt to verify their wallets.