Daniel Filho wanted by the FBI and on the run (DFRF)

Things are heating up for Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho and his DFRF Enterprises.

Following civil proceedings filed by the SEC against Filho and DFRF, BehindMLM can now confirm Filho is also the subject of a criminal investigation.

The startling revelation was made in an SEC filing requesting a preliminary injunction be granted in their case.

A Memorandum In Support of the SEC’s motion was mostly used to debunk recent falsities circulated by Filho (right) and DFRF Enterprises investors among the scheme’s victims.

The agency also expressed concerns that Filho announced he was going to continue to defraud people from outside the US.

On July 1, 2015, DFRF posted a message from defendant Filho on its “Facebook” page.

In the message, Filho made the material misrepresentations that DFRF has enough gold and cash to support all its members for 200 years, and that the value of DFRF stock has now surpassed $75 per share.

Filho stated that he was going to meet with the U.S. government in Boston on July 3. (No such meeting took place.)

Filho also stated that he is planning to move DFRF’s operations and the trading of DFRF stock outside the United States.

To that end, Filho appears to have been running DFRF in liquidation mode for most of June:

The latest evidence confirms the pressing need for an asset freeze. The money deposited into DFRF accounts rose by more than $7 million in June 2015.

While the Commission cannot yet determine precisely how much of the $7 million represents new funds from investors, there is every reason to believe that the level of new investment was substantial.

At least $6.5 million was withdrawn from DFRF accounts in June 2015. In other words, money was pulled out of DFRF accounts almost as quickly as it was deposited.

More than $1.8 million has been transferred from DFRF accounts in the U.S. to accounts outside the U.S. since January 2015. More than $1.1 million was sent overseas on June 30, 2015 – just hours before the Commission was able to serve the asset freeze on the relevant bank.

Given the pace with which money is being moved offshore, the Commission urges the Court to reconsider its prior decision and to order the defendants to repatriate all funds that have been transferred outside the U.S.

While the Commission cannot identify who received the vast majority of the withdrawals, the rapid disappearance of the money makes it urgent that any remaining funds in DFRF accounts and in the defendants’ accounts remain frozen.

Given that Filho has been frantically stashing stolen investor funds offshore, this almost comes as no surprise:

Filho is a fugitive from justice. The FBI has been unable to execute the arrest warrant, is actively searching for Filho, and has initiated a border watch.

The Commission has been informed that the FBI tried to arrest him on June 30, 2015, but he was not at home. It appears that Filho has not returned to his home since June 30.

Filho’s last public appearance was in a video uploaded to the YouTube channel “DFRF TV” on June 22nd. Whether or not he’s still in the US is unclear.

Questions of credit card fraud have also been raised, with investigations revealing numbers on VISA cards distributed by DFRF Enterprises were fictitious.

As per a declaration filed by an SEC attorney on July 10th;

The Commission has received information that DFRF distributed debit cards to some investors in early 2015. The debit cards bear the DFRF insignia and the “VISA” logo.

I have spoken with a representative of VISA, who told me that VISA does not sponsor debit cards directly. Instead, a debit card is sponsored by a financial institution that has a relationship with VISA.

The VISA representative told me that, based on the supposed account numbers appearing on the DFRF cards, the sponsoring institution was MetaBank, which is based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

I have spoken with a representative of MetaBank, who told me that MetaBank has no relationship with either DFRF Enterprises or Platinum Swiss Trust.

The MetaBank representative told me that some of the DFRF debit cards were issued by TSYS, which is a payment processor that contracts with MetaBank, but the account number on at least one of the debit cards appeared to be fictitious.

The MetaBank representative also told me that the cards issued by TSYS were prepaid cards, and that no money was ever loaded onto the cards.

In the declaration, the attorney also briefly mentions the FBI investigation into Filho:

I have had several conversations with an FBI agent involved in the investigation and the recently-filed criminal proceeding against defendant Filho.

I have been informed that the FBI has been unable to execute the arrest warrant issued for defendant Filho in this matter and that the FBI currently considers defendant Filho a fugitive.

Summing up the current situation, the SEC conclude:

DFRF and Filho are continuing to make material misrepresentations about the company’s gold business and assets and to make materially misleading lulling statements to DFRF investors.

Accordingly, the Court should convert the temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction.

On July 13th an order set a scheduled hearing on the matter for the 28th of July, with the temporary restraining order currently in place extended.

In the meantime, the hunt for Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho is on. Stay tuned…

Update 14th July 2015 – The FBI arrest warrant request against Filho was filed under seal on June 25th.

The warrant was recently unsealed, with full details published in the article “Daniel Filho arrest warrant issued on wire fraud charge“.