Court in Brazil denies “Bitcoin Pharaoh” candidacy in upcoming elections

A Brazilian man who made headlines after being charged with one of Brazil’s biggest frauds has been denied candidacy in an upcoming election. Known as the ‘Bitcoin Pharaoh’, he allegedly defrauded over 27,000 investors in a pyramid scheme that promised 10% monthly returns.

The man, whose real name is Glaidson Acácio dos Santos, wanted to run for a federal deputy candidate position under the Christian Democratic Party in the upcoming October 2 election pitting incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro against former President Luiz Lula da Silva.

However, the Regional Electoral Court of Rio de Janeiro (TRE-RJ) has unanimously ruled against dos Santos, denying him the opportunity to be on the ticket in two weeks.

According to a local report, the court pointed to Pharaoh’s digital currency scamming past and links to other crimes – including murder – as the main reason for the objection.

“This Court of ours has already decided that the norm cannot be interpreted narrowly, and serious stains on the candidates’ past lives, especially when they aim to attack the foundations of the Republic, must be sufficient to justify the rejection of candidates. “, stated referee Luiz Paulo da Silva Araújo Filho.

As CoinGeek reported in August 2021, dos Santos was arrested during Operation Krypto, where authorities seized $29 million in the largest seizure of its kind in Brazil. The operation also led to the arrest of some of the key people in GAS Consulting & Technology, a company that dos Santos founded in 2015.

Dos Santos reportedly quit his job as a waiter in 2015 to venture into digital asset trading, and in two years processed millions of dollars for his clients. He lured them with promises of 10% monthly returns and consistent demonization of the mainstream financial institutions.

“Instead of giving you a crumb of the pie, I’ll give you a bite,” was his popular rallying cry.

At the time of his arrest, he was suspected of receiving at least $7 billion from investors in his hometown of Rio de Janeiro initially, but later from as far away as Portugal and the UK

A fraud to some, the Messiah to others

Aside from the fraud, the Bitcoin pharaoh is charged with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder. With the first, he allegedly ordered a hit on a rival who was stealing his clients with promises of 20% monthly returns. He also ordered hits on two other rivals, but they survived, one miraculously escaping certain death after his car was sprayed with over 40 bullets.

Dos Santos is currently in prison in Rio de Janeiro awaiting trial for murder, attempted murder, extortion, financial crimes and more.

Despite his notoriety, he is still very popular in his hometown, which is probably why he wanted to run for office.

According to the Associated Press, people in Rio think of him as a humble black man who was able to game a financial system created by and for elite whites. His constant preaching against this system only endeared him to the people who celebrated him as a hero, despite stealing $7 billion from them. Even in prison, he stuck to his message and wrote a letter to his supporters in which he claimed the authorities “forbid me to pay you”.

“If he wanted to run for mayor, even governor, he would have won,” Gilson Silva do Carmo, a Rio resident who was one of Pharaoh’s victims, told the AP. Carmo had invested $7,000 in the scheme, which, he later revealed, was half of his savings.

Pharaoh’s popularity became evident when a large crowd gathered in protest outside one of Brazil’s television networks, demanding that the network stop covering the news of the scam and its victims. This crowd once again gathered outside the court during one of his hearings to demand his release.

See: BSV Global Blockchain Convention panel, Law & Order: Regulatory Compliance for Blockchain & Digital Assets

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