TRAGIC REPORTS IN BRAZIL: TelexFree Prosecutor Found Dead
UPDATED 1:22 P.M. ET U.S.A. There are reports in Brazil that a prosecutor who worked on a TelexFree action in that country has been found dead inside her apartment.
She has been identified as Nicole Gonzales Colombo Arnoldi, 35, of the state of Acre. The government of Acre has issued a statement of sympathy (in Portuguese) on the death. Arnoldi died yesterday, according to the statement. No cause was listed, and TelexFree was not referenced in the statement.
Brazil and the United States have shared information on the TelexFree case. The office of U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz of the District of Massachusetts did not respond immediately this morning to a request for comment on the tragic news from Brazil.
Whether the United States would send a delegation to Brazil for funeral services was not immediately known.
ac24horas.com is reporting (in Portuguese) that police are investigating the possibility of suicide by pistol, though no definitive conclusion has been reached.
In Brazil, the TelexFree probe was conducted in an atmosphere that led to threats against judges and prosecutors. As the PP Blog reported in December 2013, there were disturbing reports in Brazilian media that someone with a Facebook account used it to claim falsely that a prosecutor involved in the local TelexFree pyramid-scheme probe had been murdered. The bogus report was supplemented by photos of a mutilated body purported to be that of the prosecutor.
Investigators in Brazil treated the matter as an effort to intimidate the prosecutor, according to media accounts in Portuguese.
TelexFree was a cross-border MLM fraud that generated more than $3 billion in economic activity, according to a report by the court-appointed bankruptcy trustee in the United States. Arnoldi’s death occurred just four days after a U.S. Bankruptcy judge ruled the “program” a Ponzi- and pyramid scheme.
Chief Judge Melvin S. Hoffman of the District of Massachusetts made the ruling on Thanksgiving Eve in the United States.
Giropb.com.br is reporting that Arnoldi recently was involved in the investigation of a lynching in the city of Bujari, Brazil.
UPDATE 1:22 P.M. ET U.S.A. This photo of Arnoldi, via Twitter, is from @portal_serido, with credit to TV Globo.
Promotora responsável pelo bloqueio da Telexfree é encontrada morta no Acre https://t.co/TLy7FzFNVM pic.twitter.com/g9z7x481zM
— Portal Seridó (@portal_serido) November 30, 2015
Also see: http://www.folhapolitica.org/2015/11/promotora-do-caso-telexfree-e.html
Others are reporting that it was accidental. From a google-translated story
http://g1.globo.com/ac/acre/noticia/2015/11/mae-de-promotora-achada-morta-ligou-para-colega-da-filha-e-pediu-socorro.html
In the wake of the promoter of Justice Nicoli Arnoldi, 35, a friend of the profession, the Talles Fonseca promoter revealed that the promoter of the mother would still attached on Sunday (29) and asked for help to him. Nicole was found dead in her apartment on Sunday evening in Rio Branco.
“Her mother called me to break the door and take her to the emergency room because she was depressed. I said that Nicole was not good. When we broke down the door, she was on the bed, Now shot and dying. I tried to do CPR, but unfortunately, God took her, “laments Fonseca.
The friend also said that a few months ago the promoter battling depression and was on medication for treatment. “Sometimes slept three to four days. It was the Depression, was a wonderful person, friendly, humble and competent. A loss as a friend and professional,” he says still thrilled.
* rest assured that she was not murdered. by the way. she was proud to have closed the largest financial pyramid of history. Their depression problems were from other causes.
Whatever happened this is a terrible tragedy. Working in such a job can be very stressful in addition to any personal problems a person is having. RIP.
Indeed, John.
Patrick