Daniel Filho responds to FBI investigation?

Typically when a scam goes down there’s always at least one insider who starts circulating misinformation they make up as they go along.

Angry downline investors, pressure from friends and family who trusted them, the denial of having lost all that monopoly money – there’s a myriad of reasons it happens. And if widely circulated enough, creates enough confusion among investors such that those responsible for stealing their money are able to slink off into the night.

Language-barriers amplify the chaos, with the recent SEC shutdown and FBI investigation of DFRF Enterprises showcasing a prime example.

Following the shutdown of DFRF Enterprises by the SEC and criminal charges filed by the FBI against owner Daniel Filho, social media accounts in the company’s name were flooded with messages from DFRF investors still in denial.

This despite an SEC investigation revealed only DFRF insiders and Filho himself profited from the scheme, with millions of stolen investor funds currently unaccounted for.

Filho himself is currently wanted by the FBI and on the run, and it is against this backdrop that a communication, purportedly from Filho, has emerged over the last few hours.

Initially I dismissed the notice as yet more spammy misinformation from DFRF investors, but then a link to Daniel Filho’s official Facebook account caught my eye:

The link itself now points to a content unavailable page, which suggests the posting on Filho’s timeline has since been removed.

You can verify it’s not made up, by changing numbers in the URL and hitting refresh – which brings up a different “page not found” error message.

Whatever was posted on that link has been removed, with another message underneath the link containing a message in Spanish.

This is supposedly the information that was briefly posted on Filho’s Facebook profile before it was removed.

English versions of the message were forwarded onto me by BehindMLM readers, which I’ve reproduced below.

Daniel Fernandez Rojo Filho (today 07/14/2015 20h40m (brazil))

The all Members of DFRF

Because of communications mistakenly released vehicles of social communication, many people, especially related to MLM (MLM), by personal interests or business, they took advantage of the moment to create a legal situation.

As is public knowledge, first used a local lawyer in Massachusetts to formalize a legal complaint with the authorities in the state, pointing several names of persons and entities, including banks, which in turn, due to the complaint of content, one of the banks has led such claim for a Federal court, resulting in an investigation intentionally caused.

The American CVM (SEC – Securities and Exchange Commission) in turn, requested support to the FBI to conduct the investigation in order to ascertain the veracity of these allegations: Not existence of properties, mineral rights, reserves and / or research activities or exploitation as well as any commercial activity on own production or of third parties in favor of DFRF Enterprises LLC company.

How and knowledge of ALL members, by measure of security and asset protection and business as a whole, we decided and announced, always, to everyone, not divulgaríamos precise location, numbers, positions and / or activities until the time of the company publishes symbol of liberation that, in turn, were divinely favored not be released because it would have “lost VERY”.

The goal of many in causing “permanent” destruction did not work, we protect everything and something more. We learned a new lesson and follow further strengthened.

Hardly lost almost nothing, we remove our air systems and operations via the United States until the SEC can understand after becoming aware through other countries, for now we will take the following market position:

1. Repositioning of our platforms

2. New contracts replacing the current and force due to change of jurisdiction and the laws that will govern from that point

3. New Members access

4. New cards only international

5. Closing of activities in the United States with the full settlement with residents to Members

6. Statement with the Internal Revenue Service on all payments to be made through registered company with the sole purpose for settlement and cancellation of contract through DFRF affiliate loan with jurisdiction in another country.

Members Americans may not return to the program, except those who have registered company Offshore and thus register as a company and not as individual resident in the United States.

(All performance reports will be properly delivered to Members, Offshore, so you can individually report their activities outside of the country of fiscal origin.)

7. compute income to all members during the days when they might not have access to platform

8. Also the bank will be another jurisdiction and had answered the laws governing that sector.

9. ALL Members will be invited to visit the new administration facilities as well as the reserves, properties, production and know the activities without restriction.

10. Several Members will be selected to participate directly from our social and humanitarian projects, as well as promotional together the world’s media.

11. We will “immediately” a presentation in the media, showing all our production activities, marketing, administration and social.

12. After liquidate all residents Members in the United States, will open the books along to all competent authorities in that parents and for “technical irregularities” that have actually been found or according to the law of one or more competent bodies, offer full Support for the settlement even fitting appropriate punishment, however we will not allow such an interpretation, even with or without reason, that they may not cause damage to social and operating ratio in our global program.

We are and will be proactive in favor of the government and laws.

13. The goal is to be able to reopen activities in the United States after clarification and settlement of any pendency whether the legal, technical, operational, financial or otherwise.

14. The expected returns on stock valuation for the public company in the United States, will be assigned as “BONUS” all Members, therefore, no one lost and will never lose anything.

15. We do not disclose and not disclose anything about the American public company, YES, we have effectively registered and operating, however, we never said that the name of this public company as well as its ownership, was DFRF.

This generated some anger to that investigated because they could not find what to take; so we decided, momentarily, not to release public company in another jurisdiction, we will follow with Membership program, but with several technical and operational changes in order to meet 100% the rules and laws of the country where they will be based.

Disclose new base before the end of the month of July 2015, however all accounts followed producing and considering the valuation of the options that not even had the opportunity and make the official conversion to the new company, but here we are considering and reporting as bonus to all Members as well as income from that point onwards.

16. All members will receive new contracts with the change of jurisdiction, and the application of debit card and operating account.

We were blessed, protected and blessed, our mission will not be shaken, our purpose overcomes envy, strife, slander and arrogance. Together we will continue promoting, growing and supporting all Members so that we can indeed continue making the “difference” in the lives of thousands of people.

Many thanks to all who had the patience to wait for our official and especially the unconditional support pronouncement, as some still suffer retaliation, but we will never be shaken, because even here the Lord helped us and we never abandoned.

Daniel Fernandes Rojo Filho
President / CEO
DFRF Enterprises and Affiliates.

The first thing to note is Facebook’s geolocation tracking placed the author of the posting in Brazil. Which means if Filho himself did indeed publish it, extradition just got a whole lot more complicated.

Hiding in Brazil and running a global Ponzi scheme however are two different things. And even with bank accounts in China, that money still has to leave China at some point if DFRF is to continue (or wherever else Filho stashed it).

As to the rest of the notice, most of it directly contradicts statements made by the FBI and SEC in court. That being DFRF has no mining or Swiss Banking arrangements, and Filho only paid himself and a few DFRF insiders.

This is based on investigation conducted by both agencies, with the FBI in particular stressing at this point they are only releasing enough information to establish probable cause.

Yet Filho, without providing even the slightest shred of evidence, would have DFRF Enterprises investors believe otherwise.

As to the bullet points presented, they read more like a wishlist of Ponzi promises then anything based in reality.

While it is true Filho is currently on the run, the logistics of delivering what he’s promising whilst under an injunction and FBI arrest warrant are nigh on impossible.

The SEC alone has subpoenaed “dozens of banks” for information, with Filho existing bank channels all but gutted.

And let’s just entertain the idea that Filho is indeed hiding out in Brazil and able to continue operating DFRF (which in any event hasn’t paid out investors for months).

How long before Brazilian authorities pull the plug on him? We’ve already seen Brazilian and US authorities work closely through TelexFree. What with many of the same players involved in DFRF Enterprises, you think Brazil will turn a blind eye to Filho openly continuing to orchestrate Ponzi fraud there?

The thing about Ponzi schemes is they need new investment to keep afloat. That means they need to be advertised, with said advertising an ever-open doorway for regulators to step through and investigate.

Filho can only stay hidden for so long before he’ll have to show himself, otherwise DFRF Enterprises will implode regardless.

And is Filho really that stupid?

DFRF Enterprises, according to the SEC, was a $15 million dollar Ponzi scheme. Filho himself withdrew $6 million and paid a few more to his insiders.

That leaves what? Another five, maybe six million at best?

How long is that going to last?

And don’t forget, Filho also has family in both the US and Brazil. How long is he going to last isolating himself and living on funds he can’t really do all that much with?

Considering some Ponzi scams run into the hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars – completely throwing the rest of your life away for a few million doesn’t seem like the smartest of moves to me.

But then again I’m not a Ponzi scammer on the run from authorities. Who knows what goes through their minds once you factor in the incredible stress they must be under.

Co-conspirators have also been mentioned in the criminal charges filed by the FBI. Are they all going to run off and live in Brazil too?

We’ll leave today’s update at that and remind readers to take Filho’s announcements with the usual grain of salt. Personally I’d be pretty surprised if he’s not apprehended sometime over the next few months.

The next hearing in the SEC’s civil case against Filho and DFRF is scheduled for the 28th of July. Stay tuned…