Filho Listed As Inmate At Federal Detention Center
Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho exits a gold Lamborghini in the area of Pine Street in Orlando, Fla. Source: DFRF promo on YouTube, c. March 2015.
UPDATED 8:41 A.M. EDT U.S.A. DFRF Enterprises’ and Platinum Trade Bancorp figure Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho this morning is listed as an inmate at FDC Miami, a federal detention facility.
His inmate registration number is 08217-104 and he is listed in federal Bureau of Prison records as “Daniel F Rojo Filho.” Some apparent DFRF apologists reportedly have claimed in recent days that Filho, 47, had been released from federal custody and that the DFRF “program” alleged to have gathered nearly $23 million would resume business as usual.
Filho was arrested July 21 in Boca Raton, Fla., on a warrant from federal court in Massachusetts. He is accused of wire fraud in his alleged operation of DFRF, which the SEC has described as a pyramid- and Ponzi scheme that targeted “Spanish and Portuguese-speaking communities in Massachusetts, Florida, and elsewhere in the U.S.”
Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho. Source: DFRF promo on YouTube.
Filho is expected to be taken to Massachusetts by the U.S. Marshals Service to face the charge there. It is unclear whether a bail sum has been set for the accused scammer. He is a citizen of Brazil, according to U.S. court filings.
Scheduling details are unknown. The FBI is leading the criminal probe, with the SEC heading up the civil investigation. DFRF is alleged to have gathered on the order of $23 million fraudulently, putting investors who may speak Spanish or Portuguese in harm’s way.
Records at the Federal Election Commission show a 2012 donation from Filho to the reelection campaign of President Obama. Those records list his then-employer as Platinum Trade Bancorp.
DFRF began selling “memberships” last year, the SEC said on July 2.
“DFRF promoted the investment opportunity through online videos in which Filho falsely claimed that the company had registered with the SEC and its stock would be publicly traded. As DFRF’s marketing reach widened, membership sales dramatically increased from under $100,000 in June 2014 to more than $4 million in March 2015 alone.”
Filho has piled up an assortment of expensive automobiles by siphoning millions of dollars from DFRF investors, according to the SEC. At least one of them is a gold Lamborghini that was seen cruising the streets of Boca Raton earlier this year.
In 2010, Filho was a figure in the Evolution Marketing Group/Finanzas Forex Ponzi case. Some of the money was tied to the narcotics trade.
The “Fernandes” part of his name sometimes has been spelled “Fernandez.”
