Originally published on: December 11, 2024
The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has taken legal action against a pastor in Washington state, alleging his involvement in a $6 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that targeted around 1,500 individuals, including members of his church.
According to the CFTC, Francier Obando Pinillo, the pastor at a Spanish church in Pasco, Washington, is facing charges of fraud and misappropriation for his participation in what the commission describes as a multilevel marketing scam involving crypto assets.
In a complaint filed with a federal court in Spokane on December 9, the CFTC claims that Pinillo promoted a trading platform that supposedly engaged in high-performance cryptocurrency trading, promising investors monthly profits of up to 34.9%.
The pastor allegedly posed as the CEO of multiple entities, including Solanofi, Solano Partners Ltd., and Solano Capital Investments, operating within a purported “Solano ecosystem” for trading Bitcoin, Ether, Tether, and other digital assets on behalf of clients.
The CFTC further asserts that Pinillo offered a staking service for various cryptocurrencies through a platform called Solanofi 2.0, which guaranteed profits to customers. However, the commission contends that no such services existed, and the promised returns were false.
The complaint states that customers, many of whom were inexperienced in digital asset transactions, were misled through online dashboards displaying fake account statements and enticed with referral fees to recruit more participants.
The CFTC claims that Pinillo, leveraging his position as a pastor and targeting predominantly Spanish-speaking individuals, abused the trust of his community to perpetrate the Ponzi scheme.
The commission is seeking restitution for defrauded investors, the forfeiture of illicitly obtained funds, a trading ban, and a permanent injunction against Pinillo. Legal representation for the pastor was not immediately available, and requests for comment remained unanswered.
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