BULLETIN: (Updated 9:27 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) TelexFree and iFreeX figure Sann Rodrigues has been arrested in New Jersey, according to the Blog of Joaldro Dalla “Billy” Costa, citing a report on radio station WSRO 650 AM in Framingham, Mass.
Billy’s story is in Portuguese. Here is the English translation by Google Translate.
Rodrigues — listed as Devasc Sanderley Rodrigues in online booking records and believed to be a native of Brazil who has lived in the U.S. states of Massachusetts and Florida — appears to have been arrested May 18.
On the same day, U.S. and Brazilian law-enforcement officials met in Washington, D.C. Whether the international talks and the arrest were a coincidence was not immediately clear.
The records suggest Rodrigues was detained at the Essex County Correctional Facility.
Billy’s story suggests the booking was immigration-related. The PP Blog could not immediately confirm the information.
The Essex County site provides a link to http://www.eccorrections.org/inmatelookup. When the name Sanderley Rodrigues is typed into the form and viewers click on a follow-up link, a booking photo of Rodrigues appears.
No release date appears, suggesting Rodrigues, 43, still is being held. Information on bond and a specific charge was not posted.
Rodrigues was one of eight TelexFree figures charged civilly with securities fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He is a recidivist securities violator, according to the SEC.
TelexFree, an alleged Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that may have gathered on the order of $1.8 billion in about two years, is under investigation by the SEC and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Alleged TelexFree operators James Merrill and Carlos Wanzeler have been charged criminally.
U.S. authorities have called Wanzeler an international fugitive perhaps living in Brazil.
On May 18, officials from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an arm of the Department of Homeland Security, met in Washington with officials from the Brazilian National Police.
The officials “discussed the joint commitment to continued information-sharing and conducting investigations into child exploitation, financial fraud and human trafficking, among other topics,” according to an ICE news release dated May 21.