According to a recent announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Washington charged Pastor Francier Obando Pinillo with 26 counts of fraud, alleging that he planned the cryptocurrency scam "Solano Fi" to defraud investors of millions of dollars between November 2021 and October 2023. The maximum sentence for these charges is 20 years in prison.
Pinillo reportedly assured his congregants and other potential investors that Solano Fi was a "safe and secure investment." According to prosecutors, instead of pledging investors' funds as promised, Pinillo wired their money into accounts controlled by himself and his accomplices.
Pinillo also offered a 15% referral bonus to encourage others to join Solano Fi, creating a Ponzi-like structure and using funds from new investors to pay false profits to early participants.
Last December, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued a pastor named "Francier Obando Pinillo", accusing him of promoting a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme to 1,500 people, including some churchgoers in Washington, and claiming that the scam had absorbed $6 million in funds.