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CFTC Charges Solanofi and Washington Pastor Over $5.9 Million Crypto Trading Scheme
The CFTC has charged Francier Obando Pinillo and his Solanofi entities for operating a $5.9 million fraudulent digital asset scheme and multilevel marketing scam targeting church members.
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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced a civil enforcement action against Francier Obando Pinillo, who conducted business under the names Solanofi, Solano Partners Ltd., and Solano Capital Investments. Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, the complaint charges Pinillo with orchestrating a fraudulent digital asset multilevel marketing scheme that solicited at least $5.9 million from investors.
According to the CFTC, Pinillo targeted at least 1,515 customers across the United States, focusing heavily on Spanish-speaking individuals with minimal experience in digital assets or commodity trading. Pinillo leveraged his trusted position as a pastor of a Spanish-speaking church in Pasco, Washington, to recruit victims into the investment scheme.
Promotions for the Solanofi entities claimed that Pinillo operated an automated computer trading system and a leveraged staking trading platform. He allegedly promised investors that their capital would participate in an interest pool generating high-performance returns in cryptographic assets. Solanofi marketed the opportunity as risk-free, guaranteeing monthly compounded profits of up to 34.9%.
To further expand the operation, Pinillo incentivized participants to bring in friends and family by offering a 15% referral fee. Investors were given access to an online dashboard displaying fictitious account balances and purported trading profits.
Regulatory investigations revealed that the entire operation was fraudulent. In reality, no leveraged staking platform existed, no actual trading took place, and no genuine profits were generated. Instead, Pinillo misappropriated the transferred customer assets. Returns and referral fees distributed to earlier participants were funded directly using assets deposited by newer investors, operating in the manner of a Ponzi scheme.
The CFTC is pursuing full restitution for defrauded customers, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, permanent trading bans, and permanent injunctions against future violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations.
Regulators strongly advise the public to exercise extreme caution when presented with guaranteed, high-yield investment opportunities. Investors should always verify the registration status of any financial entity or trading platform using regulatory registries, such as the NFA BASIC database, before transferring funds.