A Brazilian national has been extradited from Switzerland to the United States to face charges related to a $290 million cryptocurrency fraud scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington announced on Feb. 21. Douver T. Braga, 48, appeared in U.S. District Court in Seattle, where he pleaded not guilty to a 13-count indictment that includes wire fraud and conspiracy.

Prosecutors allege Braga orchestrated a bitcoin investment scam under the guise of Trade Coin Club (TCC), which promised high returns through a sophisticated trading algorithm but was, in reality, a Ponzi scheme. A grand jury indicted him in October 2022, and his arrest in Switzerland led to his extradition. His trial is set for April 28, 2025, before Judge Tana Lin. The announcement states:

Braga traveled the world promoting TCC: In Thailand in March 2017, in Nigeria and Macau in May 2017. TCC was promoted on social media and in videos. At various events Braga claimed TCC had as many as 126,000 members in 231 different countries.

According to court documents, Braga and his associates promoted TCC as a cryptocurrency trading platform, misleading investors into believing they could profit from bitcoin’s fluctuating value. Investors were also encouraged to recruit others into the scheme. Despite claims of a high-tech trading system, the platform had no actual trading activity, and early investors were paid using the deposits of later participants.

Braga reportedly misappropriated at least $50 million in bitcoin between 2016 and 2019. By early 2018, investors faced difficulties accessing their funds, and TCC ultimately ceased operations in the U.S. Authorities claim Braga significantly underreported his income to the IRS while receiving tens of millions of dollars in bitcoin.

Federal investigators, including the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation, spent years unraveling the scheme. Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller commented:

Braga allegedly ran a fraud scheme that harkens back more than a century, but he updated his ‘Ponzi’ scheme with the hot new thing: bitcoin.

Special Agent in Charge W. Mike Herrington of the FBI’s Seattle field office added that Braga “siphoned off millions of dollars for his personal use.” Braga faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs played a role in securing his extradition.

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