A
Washington state pastor has been charged with operating a $5.9 million
fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme that primarily targeted Spanish-speaking
members of his own congregation, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) informed.
CFTC Charges Pastor in
$5.9 Million Crypto Fraud
CFTC filed
civil charges against Francier Obando Pinillo for allegedly running a
sophisticated digital assets scam through his companies Solanofi, Solano
Partners Ltd., and Solano Capital Investments.
Pinillo,
who served as a pastor in Pasco, Washington, allegedly exploited his position
of trust to lure at least 1,515 customers into a fraudulent investment scheme
by promising guaranteed monthly returns of up to 34.9% through an automated
crypto trading platform.
“He abused
his position of trust as the church pastor to attract customers and claimed to
be the CEO of the Solanofi entities that had an automated computer trading
system which he called Solanofi,” the CFTC commented in the statement.
The case
also involves the
collapsed FTX exchange. Pinillo claimed that, in addition to trading on his
own leveraged system, some funds were sent to FTX accounts and subsequently
frozen due to the platform’s bankruptcy, preventing the return of customer
assets. However, according to the CFTC, there is no evidence that any funds
were ever transferred to FTX.
How The Scheme Worked?
The pastor
provided victims access to fake online dashboards displaying fabricated profits
while operating what authorities describe as a Ponzi scheme, using new investor
funds to pay earlier investors. He incentivized recruitment by offering 15%
referral fees to bring in additional victims.
“The
Solanofi entities were a sham and their alleged profitability and trading track
record were non-existent,” added CFTC.
The CFTC is
seeking restitution for defrauded customers, disgorgement of illegal profits,
civil monetary penalties, and permanent trading bans. The regulator emphasized
that no actual trading platform existed and Pinillo misappropriated all
customer assets.
This is not the first time the CFTC has accused a pastor of exploiting his congregation. In 2010, it filed a similar complaint regarding a Forex Ponzi scheme and Jeremiah C. Yancy, who solicited more than $1 million from at least 36 members of his congregation.
In 2024, the market
watchdog achieved over $17.1 billion in financial fines. This record-breaking
total comprises $2.6 billion in civil monetary penalties and $14.5 billion in
disgorgement…
