SAO PAULO:
Three Brazilian footballers, together with Nottingham Forest midfielder Gustavo Scarpa, say they have got fallen victim to a multi-million-dollar cryptocurrency scam, in accordance to native media studies.
Scarpa, his former teammate Mayke at Sao Paulo membership Palmeiras, and Willian Bigode of Rio de Janeiro membership Fluminense all declare to have misplaced massive sums to a crypto company known as Xland, which promised buyers returns of up to 5 % a month on their cash, in accordance to the studies.
“I’ve always seen stupid people fall victim to pyramid schemes and scams. Finding myself in a situation like that is horrible,” Scarpa, 29, stated in a WhatsApp audio message aired Sunday by way of Brazil’s largest broadcaster, TV Globo.
Scarpa, who was once named Brazilian league participant of the 12 months in 2022, and 30-year-old defender Mayke filed court cases with police in November, in a while after profitable the league identify with Palmeiras.
Scarpa says he invested 6.3 million reais ($1.2 million) in Xland. Mayke says he invested round 4 million reais ($762,000).
Both say they have been persuaded to put money into the corporate by way of Willian Bigode, a former Palmeiras teammate.
But Bigode, 36, says he’s additionally a victim.
“I’m not a scammer, I didn’t take anyone’s money. I’m a victim, too, because I haven’t gotten my own money back to this day,” he stated on Instagram.
He put his losses at 17.5 million reais.
Lead investigator Vinicius Salva informed TV Globo there was once “strong evidence” of a scam.
But Brasilia-based Xland denied operating a pyramid scheme and stated it could pay again its shoppers.
It stated it had suffered massive losses from the cave in of cryptocurrency change FTX, which declared chapter in November.
