These Brazilian Soccer Players Were Victims of a Crypto Scam (Report)

The professional Brazilian soccer players – Gustavo Scarpa, Mayke Rocha de Oliveira and Willian Bigode – have reportedly lost over $5 million due to investing in an alleged scam company called Xland.

The company said it was not running a pyramid scheme and promised to compensate victims.

Athletes have become victims

Scarpa – Brazilian footballer who plays for Premier League club Nottingham Forest – and Mayke Rocha de Oliveira (better known as Mayke) – who competes for Brazilian Serie A side Palmeiras – were supposedly encouraged to join Xland as investors by Willian Bigode.

The platform promised a return of up to 5% a month, but it seems to have drained the players’ investment. Scarpa handed out 6.3 million reais (around $1.2 million), while Mayke parted with 4 million reais (around $757,000). Both players reported to the police several months ago. Scarpa recently commented:

“I have always seen stupid people fall victim to pyramid schemes and scams. To find myself in such a situation is terrible.”

Bigode – a former teammate of the victims at Brazil’s reigning champions Palmeiras – denied persuading the players to invest in Xland. He said he is also a victim of the supposed scam, losing 17.5 million reais (over $3.3 million):

“I’m not a scammer, I didn’t take anyone’s money. I’m also a victim, because I haven’t gotten my own money back to this day.”

Vinicius Salva – lead investigator on the case – stated that there was “strong evidence” that Xland operated as a pyramid scheme. On the other hand, the firm denied these claims and said that the investor losses were a result of the demise of the crypto exchange FTX in November 2022. Xland also promised to restore the footballers’ funds.

Some of Brazil’s biggest crypto scams

The largest nation by land mass in South America has become a hotbed for cryptocurrency schemes in recent years.

The local authorities detained Claudio Oliveira, also known as “The Bitcoin King”, in 2021, suspected of having swiped 7000 BTC from clients of his Bitcoin Banco Group. Investigators claimed he transferred the stolen assets to his personal wallet. When he was arrested, police confiscated hard wallets belonging to Oliveira, along with luxury cars and a huge amount of cash.

Brazil’s law enforcement agencies conducted a similar operation last year, stops the operations of a criminal organization led by businessman Francisco Valdevino da Silva, better known as the “Bitcoin Sheikh.” According to the charges, the gang’s members enticed people to join their crypto platform, promising them up to 20% return on investment.

The investigation, dubbed “Operation Poyais,” estimated that the perpetrators stole a significant amount of funds from victims over the years and laundered digital currencies worth $766 million.

Featured image courtesy of Nottingham Post