There is an estimate that Adhemar Capital managed at least USD 400 million from its victims. This April 28, the investigative process against Adhemar Bacchiani now begins.
Edgar Adhemar Bacchiani, CEO of Adhemar Capital, a company based on a pyramid scheme with bitcoin (BTC) and other digital assets located in Argentina, must appear for investigation on April 28, after getting captured last Friday.
Bacchiani and two other collaborators face charges of illegal association, money laundering, fraud, and unauthorized financial intermediaries. Although, according to the Clarín newspaper, Bacchiani’s wife would also have a vital role in the incident.
Bacchiani and his team got captured in the Catamarca Unit Division of the Federal Police. After the investigation, the court will confirm how the legal situation of each defendant continues. They do not rule out calling other people to testify in the coming days, said Alfredo Aydar, a lawyer for one of the victims.
The company, located in Catamarca, in northwestern Argentina, offered a 50% return to investors through bitcoin trading, something that it could not maintain for long, as is often happening in this type of case.
The interruption in payments set off investors’ alarms, and they complained about the situation. Rumors about an investigation led by the Argentine justice system appeared in January, but these rumors got dismissed by the company at the time.
Citizens of Many Provinces Fell into Bacchiani’s Networks
Although the operations of the scheme focused on Catamarca, the fame of the supposed benefits of the company caused it to expand to other regions such as Tucumán and Córdoba, places where the company also installed headquarters reaching as far as La Rioja.
In the case of La Rioja, the lawyer of a group of 68 people, participants in the scheme in that province, Cristian Masking, said that according to the inquiries led by his law firm, there are at least 20,000 victims.
The total amount of funds handled by Bacchiani and his collaborators is unknown, but for February, two investors gave the platform USD 620,000 and USD 8,950,000, respectively.
According to the lawyer Aydar, in Catamarca, some investments approached USD 200 million. While in Tucumán, between USD 60 and USD 80 million, and in Córdoba, around USD 60 million, it is estimated that Adhemar Capital managed USD 400 million.
A local media reported that a group of those affected by the alleged scam marched to demand the return of their funds. They even tried to enter Bacchiani’s house, but the police prevented them.
Does Bacchiani Possess the Currencies?
The currencies got possibly housed in a cold wallet. By some signs in a photo on Twitter, speculations are pointing that Edgar Adhemar Bacchiani has under his control the digital assets of the investors.
The theory that Bacchiani possesses these crypto-assets got exposed on Twitter by Oswaldo Mendeleev (@BetoMendeleev_). Everything was born from some photos taken by the justice at the time of Bacchiani’s arrest, in which it seems that he makes a couple of gestures with his hands.
He points to his cell phone with one hand, and with the other, he makes the twine symbol, referring to the fact that the victims’ money is in digital currencies there, according to Mendeleev.
By: Jenson Nuñez
