Police in Sao Poalo raided Philip Han’s luxury condo at 5am on Tuesday, August 23rd.
As reported by Estadio (paywall), Han and his wife Carla Moreira Han are suspected of
the practice of financial pyramiding and money laundering, through asset managers that operate throughout the country without operating a license.
I believe the charges are Brazil’s wire fraud and securities fraud criminal law equivalents.
Authorities in Sao Paulo allege Han’s involvement in six MLM Ponzi schemes over nine years; WCM777, Mr. Link, iFreex, FX Trading Corp, F2 Trading Corp and MyHash.
Han’s last scam, My Hash, collapsed in early to mid 2021.
According to the investigators … the journey of these companies invariably ended with investors writing police reports because they considered themselves victims of embezzlement.
Brazils’ criminal investigation into Han is reported to have begun in 2019. In 2020 a Sao Paulo Judge shut down prosecutor’s attempts to bring a case against Han, citing “inconsistencies” with evidence presented.
The evidence attached to the case file was not sufficient to identify that those responsible for the investigated companies formed a criminal organization, or that the conduct practiced was substantiated in techniques to money laundering.
I don’t know what evidence was submitted but that’s a pretty substantial cock up by Brazilian authorities.
In any event, it seems police continued to investigate Han, leading to the raid on Tuesday.
As I understand it Han has yet to be arrested. Estadao attempts to contact Han and his wife for comment were unsuccessful.