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Tag: Platinum Trade Bancorp

  • 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. April 2015.
    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.
    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.”

     

  • Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho, Accused In Alleged DFRF Enterprises Ponzi Scheme, Made Donation To 2012 Obama Campaign: What Is Platinum Trade Bancorp?

    Federal Election Commissiobn records list this donation from Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho to the 2012 relection campaign of President Obama. Red highlights/redaction by PP Blog.
    Federal Election Commission records list this donation from Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho to the 2012 reelection campaign of President Obama. Filho’s employer is listed as Platinum Trade Bancorp. Red highlight/redaction by PP Blog.

    In 2012, Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho, purportedly an employee of an entity known as Platinum Trade Bancorp and using the address of a mansion in Boca Raton, Fla., made a $250 campaign contribution to Obama for America, according to Federal Election Commission records.

    The PP Blog is declining to publish the address of the 6,742-square-foot (est.) waterfront property, which appears not to have been owned by Filho. Records suggest the six-bedroom home has at least 6,200 square feet with air-conditioning and a separate quarters for domestic staff.

    It sold for $2.025 million in August 2013, but Filho was listed neither as buyer nor seller. If he ever lived in the mansion, it appears he was a tenant, not an owner.

    The donation to President Obama’s reelection campaign in Filho’s name (and listing the address of the Boca Raton mansion) was recorded on Oct. 16, 2012, just three weeks before the Nov. 6 general election that returned Obama to the White House for four more years. Obama is a Democrat.

    Filho, now implicated criminally and civilly by the FBI and the SEC in the alleged DFRF Enterprises Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that traded on an international gold-mining theme, is not a U.S. citizen, according to court filings. Rather, he is a citizen of Brazil.

    Campaign donations by “foreign nationals” are illegal under U.S. law. There is an exception for U.S. residents who have a green card “indicating his or her lawful admittance for permanent residence in the United States,” according to the FEC.

    It is unclear whether Filho has a green card and is in the country lawfully. Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts described him July 22 as an Orlando resident and fugitive arrested the day before “coming out of a restaurant in Boca Raton.”

    Sann Rodrigues, a defendant in the epic TelexFree Ponzi- and pyramid case and an alleged Filho business associate, was arrested in May 2015 on a charge of immigration fraud. Like Filho, Rodrigues is a citizen of Brazil. Prosecutors said Rodrigues lied to get a green card.

    Both men have listed addresses in Florida and Massachusetts and have been implicated in alleged frauds targeted at people who speak Portuguese or Spanish.

    FEC records show that the donation in Filho’s name lists him as “Chairman of the Board” of Platinum Trade Bancorp. Where the purported business was based is unclear. No such company appears to exist in Florida.

    The name of the purported firm, however, is similar to the name of Platinum Swiss Trust, a company the SEC said played a role in the DFRF fraud.

    Platinum Swiss Trust, the SEC alleged, is a “purported Swiss private bank that is not actually authorized to conduct banking activities in Switzerland.” It purportedly is associated with Heriberto C. Perez Valdes, 46, of Miami. Valdes is a DFRF codefendant in the SEC’s civil case.

    DFRF, the agency said, advanced a story that it has a $3.1 billion line of credit with Platinum Swiss Trust and used investors money to “leverage the credit line and generate a total return of 600%.”

    Darren Covar, a Florida immigration attorney who appeared with Filho and others in a DFRF promo, is listed in FEC records as a contributor to Democratic causes. He has not been accused of wrongdoing.

    FEC records lists Covar as having made $2,800 in 2012 contributions, though none to Obama. These contributions consisted of $300 to the Democratic Executive Committee of Florida, and $2,500 to the Kristen Jacobs for Congress campaign. Jacobs, a Democrat running for seat in the U.S. House, lost the race to Democrat Lois Frankel, the former mayor of West Palm Beach and the former minority leader of Florida’s state house.

    Whether bail has been set for Filho is unclear. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Massachusetts did not return an inquiry on the matter.

    Filho made an appearance in federal court in the Southern District of Florida yesterday. Miami defense attorney David A. Howard made a “temporary” appearance for him, according to the docket of the case.

    Howard did not immediately return an inquiry for comment on Filho’s bail status.

    Court records suggest he is in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and will be returned from Florida to face the DFRF-related criminal charge of wire fraud in federal court in Massachusetts.

    NOTE: Our thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.