The Brazilian military police arrested the founder and CEO of the Mirror Trading International (MTI) cryptocurrency pyramid, Johann Steynberg, who had been sought by Interpol and the FBI in 2019.
Law enforcement began monitoring the suspect shortly after receiving information about his presence in the city of Goiania.
He was located using forged documents and brought to the Federal Police station in the Brazilian state of Goiás.
Authorities say MTI defrauded 170,000 investors who entrusted the pyramid with at least 22,000 BTC (about $920 million at the rate at the time of writing). The organisers promised monthly returns of at least 10%.
In July 2021, the Brazilian Federal Police shut down the Bitcoin Banco Group, whose actions harmed 7,000 citizens by more than $300 million. Its leader, Claudio Oliveira, known as the ‘King of Bitcoins’, was arrested.
In August, the agency seized cryptocurrency worth 150 million Brazilian reais ($28.7 million) as part of Operation Kryptos, linked to the alleged pyramid scheme.
In 2021, criminals targeting the cryptocurrency industry stole a record $14 billion, according to the analytics firm Chainalysis.
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