2 Promoters of Forcount Crypto Ponzi Scheme Plead Guilty to Wire Fraud Conspiracy

Two more promoters of the Forcount crypto Ponzi scheme, a Brazil-based scam that defrauded Spanish-speaking investors of $8.4 million between 2017 and 2021, have admitted their roles in the scheme.

On July 22, Nestor Nunez, 66, and Antonia Perez Hernandez, 49, each pleaded guilty to a charge of wire fraud conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

Prosecutors say Nunez, a Spanish national, was paid to pose as the CEO of the Forcount scheme using the alias “Salvador Molina.” The real ringleader of the scheme is alleged to be Francisley Da Silva, a 39-year-old Brazilian national who was arrested by Brazilian authorities in 2022. Hernandez was a senior supporter of the scheme.

Between 2017 and 2021, Forcount’s promoters targeted Spanish speakers around the world, often through flashy introductory meetings, promising them high returns based on profit sharing from non-existent crypto mining and trading activities.

According to court documents, Forcount’s promoters lured their victims by promising them “financial freedom” and showing off their personal wealth in the form of luxury cars and designer clothes, while also stealing investor deposits and laundering their ill-gotten gains through fake companies and real estate.

One of Nunez and Hernandez’s accomplices, 46-year-old American citizen Juan Tacuri, pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to commit fraud. He also agreed to forfeit $4 million in proceeds of crime and real estate purchased with victim funds as part of a plea deal.

Tacuri will be sentenced on September 24 in New York by District Judge Analisa Torres, who is overseeing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) lawsuit against crypto company Ripple.

Torres will sentence Nunez on Nov. 11. A sentencing date has not yet been set for Hernandez.