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FBI: Florida man took Bostonians on harbor cruises to sign them up for his phony investment scheme
By adamg on Thu, 07/23/2015 - 12:18pm
The FBI reports arresting a flim-flam man living in Orlando on charges he defrauded Bostonians and others out of $12 million over the past year with promises of riches from non-existent gold-mining operations in Brazil and Africa.
Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho, 58, a Brazilian national living in Orlando, went on the lam two weeks ago after he was charged with count of wire fraud, but the G-men caught up with him in Boca Raton on Tuesday, the FBI says.
According to an affidavit by an FBI agent who investigated him, Filho set up a company called DFRF Enterprises, LLC, and recruited people to pay him to become "members" of the company - sometimes after taking them on cruises around Boston Harbor. But, the affidavit continues, the money didn't go into mining operations - and after one local woman flew to Florida and confronted him, he gave her a $10,000 check that bounced when she deposited it.
A review of checks drawn on DFRF bank accounts and signed by Filho show that he paid approximately $2 million to a luxury car dealership in Florida to purchase a number of luxury cars, including multiple Lamborghinis, a Ferrari, a Rolls Royce, a Tesla, a Mercedes, and two Cadillac Escalades.
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| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 Affidavit in Filho case | 306.05 KB |
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Comments
Wow
Who are these people who invest in mysterious schemes after taking a harbor cruise?
"Well, it seemed legit. I mean, he had the cruise and all..."
I'm curious if these investors did any kind of other research. Hasn't anyone learned anything after Madoff?
One would like to think
That if you are smart enough to earn money to invest in such a scheme, you would be smart enough to spot a fraud when you see one.
Apparently that is not the case.
Earn?
Like most wealthy people, they probably made their money the old fashioned way ... they inherited it.
The money had to start someplace
Whether inherited or not. It did not spontaneously appear.
But that's beside the point. Not everyone that invests is a multi millionaire. If I am not mistaken, you yourself have spoken about how much your home has appreciated. Some people cash out. Or am I mistaking you for somebody else?
We live in a city full of Doctors, Lawyers, Scientists and generally all round smart people. Judging by the price of real estate around here, they are quite well paid.
Be that as it may
The reality is that the huge fortunes amassed by the likes of the 1% are being increasingly handed down to multiple offspring and their offspring. This is swelling the ranks of people who may not have the investment savvy to match their fortunes - in other words, potential marks for these scams. That is not to say that everyone inherited money, nor that all who inherit it are gullible; however, it does mean that the market potential is increasing.
There were huge problems with such scammers of the naive and wealthy in the Gilded Age, for similar reasons
Ten Grand?
That's hardly a 1% play.
If the amount of money demanded by the woman whose check bounced was only 10k, it's more likely he was preying on middle class urban people, maybe other naturalized Brazilians here.
It's just a garden variety Ponzi scheme.
But why let such details ruin the fun of of beating lefty cliche plowshares into the swords of hurled epithets casually tossed off with just the right amount of surliness for effect?
I'm no fan of the 1%, but I'm also no fan of knee jerk cliches.
Well said, Fred.
Well said, Fred.
Most?
Really?
I call bullshit.
No.
There will always, always be a certain percentage of folks who are greedy piggies. And there will always, always be folks, like our friend here, to prey upon their need for greed.
cool
Nice to see there's still some old school con men left in the world
Immigration status?
of this Brazilian residing in Florida preying on Americans? One of the supposed upstanding immigrants? There is a huge problem when federal officials don't even report what the status is.
haha
I'd still rather deport you than him
What was the immigration status
Of Bernie Madoff?
Another irrelevant comment
brought to you by Markk.
Mark is not a racist, yadda yadda, justs want to uphold The Law
I don't know of very many undocumented immigrants who are able to create a legally-sanctioned taxpaying LLC, named after themselves, that moves millions of dollars. Usually immigration authorities tend to notice that sort of thing.
This con only lasted a year
How is Boston2024 going to keep up the front for nine?
Flim-flam man
Now *there's* a phrase that doesn't get used often enough.
I always wondered
Which part is the flim, and which is the flam.
Up in the air!
It's a bird -- it's a plane -- no! It's Florida Man, the world's worst superhero!
Example:
Florida Man has thoroughly sweatstained
a formerly white shirt to a rich tan, reminiscient of amber waves of grain.
America.
Florida also capital
of Medicare fraud, identity fraud, and opiate pill mills. Must have nothing to do with all the illegal immigrants there. Nothing at all.
You are correct.
All those things you listed do no not have anything to do with whether a person is an illegal immigrant.
Let's look at data: proving racists wrong since 1600
According to a thing I Googled, these are The 10 Most Corrupt States In the Country:
1. Mississippi
2. Louisiana
3. Tennessee
4. Illinois
5. Pennsylvania
6. Alabama
7. Alaska
8. South Dakota
9. Kentucky
10. Florida
According to the Pew Research Center, here are the 10 states with the highest proportion of undocumented workers in the overall workforce:
1. Nevada
2. California
3. Texas
4. New Jersey
5. Florida
6. Maryland
7. Arizona
8. New York
9. Georgia
10. Illinois
Oh, hey, look - some vague overlaps that mean absolutely nothing because these thigns have absolutely nothing to do with each other. How 'bout that.
Define Corrupt
Crooked politicians? Citations?
Google
It is your friend.