Ronaldinho Denies Involvement in $61 Million Crypto Scheme”

At a congressional hearing in Brazil, former professional soccer player Ronaldinho Gacho denied his involvement in an alleged crypto pyramid scheme bearing his name.

On August 31, Ronaldinho appeared before a parliamentary commission and denied any involvement in the “18kRonaldinho” scheme, which promised 2% daily returns on cryptocurrency.

The company was the target of a lawsuit requesting $61 million in damages. Ronaldinho claimed he was a victim of the alleged scheme, as he was never partnered with the company and it used his name and image without his permission.

During the hearing, images of 18K Ronaldinho’s advertising featuring Ronaldinho were displayed.

The inquiry showed an image of Ronaldinho with the text “Your money yielding up to 2% a day” (translated). Source: YouTube

According to him, the photographs were taken as part of a contract he signed in July 2019 with a subsidiary of the company that sells timepieces, but that contract was terminated in October of that year and was never carried out.

Aureo Ribeiro, the president of the investigation, asked Ronaldinho if he intended to reimburse investors in the company, to which Ronaldinho replied that he would remain silent.

In addition, he did not respond when questioned about the $61 million lawsuit. Ronaldinho had missed two previous hearings related to the investigation, the most recent on August 24. He stated that weather conditions prevented him from attending.

The hearing on August 31 was Ronaldinho’s last opportunity to appear before Congress, if he failed to do so, he could have been fined or arrested and taken against his will to the hearing.

The lower house of Brazil’s legislature, the Chamber of Deputies, initiated the investigation in June to investigate alleged crypto pyramid schemes.

The Securities and Exchange Commission alleges that a total of eleven companies fraudulently promised high returns using cryptocurrency.