Pastor Accused of Promoting $6 Million Crypto Pyramid Scheme

CFTC has filed a complaint against a pastor of a Spanish church in Washington state for promoting a fraudulent cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme among parishioners.

.@CFTC Charges Washington State Pastor with Fraud, Misappropriation in Multilevel Marketing Scheme Targeting Hispanic Americans: https://t.co/duI1GEzwoA

— CFTC (@CFTC) December 10, 2024

According to the agency, from November 1, 2021, to December 31, 2023, Francier Obando Pinillo identified himself as the director of Solanofi, Solano Partners Ltd., and Solano Capital Investments, urging investments in cryptocurrency earnings. In addition to trading, he promoted staking in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, USDT, and Dogecoin.

Pinillo promised clients monthly profits of up to 34.9%, as well as a 15% referral reward.

He managed to attract $6 million from more than 1,500 individuals. In reality, no trading occurred, and the pastor misappropriated all the funds.

The CFTC has demanded restitution, forfeiture of all illegally obtained funds, a trading ban, and a prohibition on further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act.

Earlier in January, a pastor of the online Victorious Grace Church in Colorado justified the issuance of scam tokens as “divine will”.