Carlos Wanzeler’s brother Fabio settles TelexFree fraud
TelexFree co-owner Carlos Wanzeler’s brother, Fabio Wanzeler, was a net winner in the $3 billion dollar Ponzi scheme.
Fabio Wanzeler profited some $633,578 off of TelexFree victims. His wife, also an investor, wound up losing $7000.
Not surprisingly, the net-winner status of Fabio Wanzeler and his wife saw them face clawback litigation from the court-appointed Trustee.
In late 2016 the DOJ connected Fabio Wanzeler’s family home in Cape Delabra, Florida, to ill-gotten gains derived through TelexFree.
To that end the DOJ filed for and was awarded a restraining order against the property in February, 2017.
A few months later Fabio Wanzeler’s attorney would claim the house in question had nothing to do with TelexFree.
Wanzeler’s attorney argued
(Fabio) Wanzeler acquired the property through income he received as a partner in two telecommunications business with defendant Carlos Wanzeler.
The businesses were Common Cent’s Communication and Diskavontade.
These businesses are distinguishable from TelexFree, which was identified as a Ponzi scheme in the criminal complaint.
That appears to have been baloney (shocking!), as per a proposed settlement between Fabio, his wife Claudia and the TelexFree Trustee.
The submitted November 5th settlement pertains to the Cape Delabra property, as well as one in Coconut Creek.
Both properties were part of James Merrill’s plea agreement, which itself rebuked Wanzeler’s claim the Cape Delabra house had nothing to do with TelexFree.
Merrill admitted that the assets …, including the Cape Delabra Property, are subject to forfeiture on the grounds that they are property … derived from proceeds traceable to the commission of offenses charged in (his) indictment.
As per the stipulated settlement agreement;
1. The Wanzelers shall execute a deed transferring ownership of the San Mellina Drive Property (Coconut Creek) to the Chapter 11 Trustee; and
2. The Wanzelers shall obtain a mortgage against the Cape Delabra Property for a net payment int he amount of $250,000, which funds shall be paid to the Chapter 11 Trustee, in lieu of forfeiture of the Cape Delabra Property.
Approval of the settlement will resolve claims against Fabio Wanzeler by the TelexFree Trustee.
This is based on the Coconut Creek property having an estimated value
in the range of $500,000.
The United States is expected to recover $250,000 from the refinance of the Cape Delabra Property, which funds will be made available for payments to Participants.
The aggregate recovery from the Wanzelers, therefore, under the Stipulation is projected to be up to $700,000 or more.
These amounts equal or exceed the aggregate net winnings obtained by Fabio from involved in the TelexFree scheme, according to the books and records of TelexFree.
A decision on the proposed settlement between Fabio Wanzeler and the TelexFree Trustee is pending. Stay tuned…
Update 18th December 2018 – The proposed settlement between Fabio Wanzeler and the TelexFree Trustee was approved on December 17th.
Attention to who may concern,
My Name is Fabio Wanzeler, As you don’t know the full settlement details of the agreement, I advise that you should delete any information that Include my name and my wife name from behindmlm.com site in the next 24 hours, starting todays date 11/06/2018, 11:59PM.
Any Information added by you or your team to the public, or on the site behindmlm.com, can be used against you and your team for defamation..
The request to settle both cases together in one case came from me, I requested the government to add both cases in one settlement case, So I can move on with my life, with my family away from Telexfree Case.
About Telexfree Case, I was an investor the same as 1,0000,0000 Participants, I personally invested more then $45,000 to purchase the ad-families…
The amount that shows on the settlement ($633,578) don’t mean that this is a correct amount earned.
Anyways I became a net-winner, and is important to pay to the Telexfree States this funds to compensate those that did not earn back their investment.
About my properties, The way I purchased my homes remains the same, My brother did not purchase my houses, he paid me in form of past partnership compensation.. The businesses were Common Cent’s Communication and Diskavontade, a partnership that ended on May/24/2010 do to finances disagreements.
unfortunately when I settleted with my brother those disagreements on the financial part, I did not have a crystal ball to know if my brother was compensating me thru funds that he earned from Telexfree in Brazil or Not.
My my, one salty scammer today aren’t we.
Are you claiming the stipulated settlement agreement that was filed in court is incomplete?
Sure, but only if the information isn’t true. Which it is so your legal threats are duly noted and will be ignored.
I’m sure it did, we never claimed otherwise. Better to settle your Ponzi scamming then try to defend it in court and get steamrolled. Smart choice.
Yes it does. You were a net-winner (you admit this yourself in your next paragraph). This alone separates you from the 1,000,000 TelexFree investors, most of whom lost money.
If you don’t agree with the facts presented in the settlement agreement, why did you consent to it?
Try to justify it all you want. You and your scummy brother used stolen Ponzi funds to buy properties.
You’re now handing back those properties to satisfy clawback litigation filed against you.
Ignorance is not a legal defense. Your lawyer no doubt informed you of this.
Ouch.. 😀
I wonder will we see Fabio answering here anymore after that.. 😀
It’s refreshing to see journalists not cave to intimidation. Shame our mainstream media no longer has that kind of backbone.
Even Gaming media are scared to report actual news about the industry after the recent move from Take 2 and Rockstar to sue a website for reporting facts about an upcoming game (Red Dead Redemption 2). Sad thing is they won and the site had to pay out a million dollars.
The fact that Take 2 requested the fine be paid to charity does not make it ok to sue impartial journalism because then we have a controlled press afraid to report real news which is pretty much what we have today.
Good to see you sticking to your ethical guns on this one Oz 🙂 Keep up the great work.
lol x3 !! wagalo come see this, fabio is here and would like to talk to you.
and to Fabio, if you are reading, sir, please, go make love to yourself in a dark corner.
Mr (OZ),
I am beying accused of a crime by you, Your action is called bad faith replying this words “(My my, one salty scammer today aren’t we.)”, I will take this type of false acussations very serious against me.
2- About the stipulated settlement agreement… Mind your own business!
You should have read page 18 of the settlement agreement that applies the terms on the settlement..
Why you did not apply this part of the settlement (page 18) on your comments about the settlement?
3- Your acussations saying that I intentionally used stolen Ponzi funds to buy properties are false acussations.
Just because my brother was the founder of Telexfree, that dont make me a scammer..
I was a investor in the Telexfree and became a Net-winner like many others, and if that makes me a scammer according to your acussations, means that you are acussing every Telexfree net-winner a scammer.
In the United States has law that protects innocent people beying falsely acussed, As You know.
This past years you, your blog, website affected my reputation badly by connecting me to the public view online, in form of defamation, and needs to stop.
False accusations that are published in print or online are called “libel,”
(Ozedit: Offtopic derail attempt removed)
On the date 11/06/2018, 11:59PM, I requested you to remove any information that has my name in connection to your website. and today 11/08/2018 11:16PM, is my second request to remove contents, Comments that you or your team added without my consent on your website, Online.
Must be removed immediately!
Fabio Wanzeler
What crime would that be? The clawback litigation was filed against you by the Trustee and is civil in nature.
If you have a problem with being accused of stealing $633,578 from TelexFree victims, and using that money to purchase property, take it up with the Trustee.
Because it doesn’t change the fact that you stole $633,578 from TelexFree victims and have agreed to forfeit assets to satisfy clawback litigation filed against you.
You don’t have to admit what is plainly obvious, your settlement speaks for itself. And if that one sentence meant you’d return what you stole without a fuss, more power to you.
Thankyou, on behalf of TelexFree victims everywhere, for not dragging out your settlement and further wasting Trustee resources.
Like I said, then take it up with the Trustee. And James Merrill while you’re at it. His plea agreement acknowledges the Cape Delabra property was purchased with TelexFree funds.
No it doesn’t. You stealing $633,578 from TelexFree victims does.
Yup.
You fucked up your own reputation when you decided to steal $633,578 through a Ponzi scheme. We simply reported on it and the resulting legal fallout.
Cool. But there’s nothing false about the fact that you stole $633,578 from TelexFree victims and through a proposed settlement will pay the money back.
And for the second time I’m denying the request. We don’t need your permission to report MLM fraud related news.
^^^<3^^^
Oh, Joy!
Baaaaaah haahahahahahaha!!!!!!!
Andrew,
Fabio is saying he can do anything without us commenting!?
Great topic/thread.
This is why we like, no, *LOVE*, behindmlm 😀
Well done Fabio! LOL
Mr (OZ),
Every contents, Comments that you or your team added without my consent during this past years upto date on your website, Online, Must be removed before you, your team delete this information below from you website, Online.
Your acussations saying that I stolen Ponzi funds from telexfree victim’s and calling me a scammer are false acussations.
I was a investor in the Telexfree and became a Net-winner like many others, and if that makes me a scammer according to your acussations, means that you are acussing every Telexfree net-winner a scammer.
Just because my brother was the founder of Telexfree, that dont make me a scammer..
Don’t delete any of the contents replied by me at behindmlm.com including below comments.
(Ozedit: repost waffle removed)
On the date 11/06/2018, 11:59PM, and 11/11/2018 11:50PM, I requested you to remove any information that has my name in connection to your website.
This is my third request to remove contents, Comments that you or your team added without my consent on your website, Online.
Fabio Wanzeler
Fabio, I’ll make this simple for you:
I’m not removing anything. You stole $633,578 from TelexFree victims and yes that makes you a scammer.
This is documented in publicly available court filings.
If you have a problem with the facts, cool. Take it up with James Merrill, the DOJ, the SEC and the TelexFree Trustee.
You made your bed and now you lie in it. Any more silly demands and repetitive BS will be marked as spam.
Again you are calling me a scammer. Stop posting comments about me with this type of accuzations, I don’t consent..
You don’t know me, who I am, including my reputation, to be accusing me of a scammer..
As I said mind your own business about the Settlement agreement!
You don’t have the right to mention inappropriate comments, by adding comments on your website that is not on the settlement… making people think that I was a scammer.
Did the trustee apply and accuzation calling me a scammer on the settlement agreement?? No
If I had knowledge about Telexfree internal transactions, then probably your acussations would be valid.
The only person that is talking inappropriate about me, calling me a scammer is you, with inappropriate comments.
Hundreds, thousands of people worked with Telexfree the same way I did, and became net-winners and they are not scammers the way you are acussing me.
Unfortunately the business was illegal and the net-winners will need return the funds earned to pay back the net-losers.
When I Google…, I only see you, your comments on your website talking about me,
That’s defamation and needs to stop, You don’t know the detailed story to add comments about me.
I have hundreds of people that know me, who I Am, in person and in business.. and they talk on my behalf.
Also don’t delete part of my comments the way you are doing, that’s bad faith, by leaving only what you want on your website. Comments that I typed and you know that will affect your accuzations why you deleted?
I know you stole $633,578 from TelexFree victims, which makes you a scammer.
The Trustee filed clawback litigation against you. That literally defines you as someone who scammed a bunch of people through a Ponzi scheme.
Anyone can look up the court filings and confirm you stole $633,578 from TelexFree Ponzi victims.
If you didn’t steal the money, why are you forfeiting a bunch of assets to settle the clawback lawsuit?
It’s because you stole $633,578 from TelexFree Ponzi victims, which makes you a scammer.
No matter how butthurt it might make you, the truth isn’t defamatory.
A Ponzi scheme is fraudulent by nature. There is no legitimate non-scamming way to make money in one.
Anyone who makes money through a Ponzi scheme is a scammer. Period.
Part of my responsibility as an editor is readability. You posting the same copied garbage over and over again will cause anyone’s eyes to bleed.
I am not a scammer. I dispute your acussations.
The Trustee is simply doing his job to get the funds back from the net-winners, to pay the net-losers, but don’t mean the person (net-winners) had knowledge that he/she was representing, promoting a Ponzi.
If I had knowledge that TelexFree was a Ponzi, then I would accept you calling me a scammer.
(Ozedit: derail removed)
Whether you “had knowledge” TelexFree was a Ponzi or not is immaterial to the fact you stole over half a million dollars from Ponzi victims.
The Trustee didn’t sue you for not knowing TelexFree was a Ponzi scheme. You were sued for scamming people through a Ponzi scheme in an attempt to clawback what you stole.
If ignorance was a defense, you’d have simply told the Trustee you didn’t know TelexFree was a Ponzi scheme and kept the money.
OZ
”THE GENTLEMAN” WANTS TO SILENCE YOU BUT INSTEAD HE IS POURING THE PRO-PEOPLE PETROL IN TH FIRE. CONTINUE!
All participants in a Ponzi are scammers. Some are winning scammers, and some losing scammers. The participants’ “intent” was always to win – similar to “attempted” robbery.
Maybe, just maybe, people will think twice before doing MLM, especially if justifiably labeled a scammer in the aftermath.
Tip: If you CAN “endless-chain recruit”, you are a scammer with a scam company. Some are just worse than others, and stealing 600k is pretty bad.
Fabio Wanzeler, everyone in Brazil will have hard time to get their money back. First because justice think they are accessary.
And I even see people who lost their money and make someone else lost their and even with this, he try to pay because make a bad thing to a friend. And you win 600k dollars and just say: I don’t know it was a ponzi.
Put it in picture: This was NOT the fist MMN company (ponzy scheme) of Carlos Wanzeler. Was this the first you join?
Hi Rodrigo Zanatta,
Unfortunately at the time I represented the company I did not know, I got involved representing the company middle-end of the year 2012.
The company already was active worldwide with thousands of people active worldwide already earning money.
Seeing a company with 1,000,000+ representives, I think that most of the people would not think that it was a Ponzi.
Most importantly is my responsibility to pay back what I earned as net-winner to the Telexfree states, So the trustee (Government) can have more funds available.
My holp is that the investors can get their investment back. The Government are working on that, as I understand!
As I know Telexfree was the first Ponzi company that they owned.
I’d be willing to bet you didn’t sell $633,578 worth of VOIP services to retail customers. Where did you think your ROI revenue was coming from Fabio?
Most of my earnings was not thru recruiting people. I strongly advise you to stop the acussations against me.
mr. fabio, maybe you should present a law suit against Behind MLM, if you can find the money for more lawyer fees that is. trololol.
also, do you know when your brother Carlos will be joining us in the USofA for some overdue prison jelly time???
no, it was through residual income and the allocation of manual credits for street re-sell.. BAHAHAHAHAHAH scammy fabi.
Then how?
Hi Fabio Wanzeler. Ok, I can have a little of sympathy of you. I may be ingenue, but I believe in the best of the people. You are not your brother that did things even worst. But you did it and won money. Live with it.
Pay the price to justice and move on. You will NOT erase bad things like this post. This is the justice for things you did. But it is very small. Just… move on.
Learn it and NEVER joint to another MMN and/or ponzy scheme. Your brother, even now, are creating another company. I even see a video about it in facebook. He can’t stop.
He is (or can be) the second Brazilian to lose the Brazilian citizen and have real chance to be in jail for years in USA. And he created another MMN that is obvious a ponzi scheme.
If you really want to be honest with us, tell your side of the storie. This is not an excuse. This will not make you less guilt. But this will help us to understand what happens.
Or just forget it and move on.
My brother legal issues, is between him and the government.
It’s unfortunate to have been involved in a money stealing scam like Telexfree and not realize until it’s too late the massive damage such a scheme may have caused.
Some people are ignorant and don’t realize the illegalities of such schemes.
And some choose to be ignorant and do know that there is something wrong with the picture.
But that is why local law enforcement and the government have to step in. Otherwise, the scam will continue and the ignorant people continue lose money and their lives.
It is what it is. For those who didn’t have to go to prison, you live and learn and you move on with an important lesson in life.
That’s not what I said. I said I very much doubt you sold $633,578 worth of VOIP services to retail customers.
So again I’ll ask, where did you think your ROI revenue was coming from Fabio?
Mr OZ,
Why should I answer any of your questinares? first add back the comments you deleted from me.. your actions are not being good faith.
Also you can do your diligence, if most of my earnings did not come from recruiting people. Then how I earned money in telexfree?
Remember the words you being accusing me a scammer, saying that I scammed people…
Before you make those type of accuzations, first you should do you diligence and apply full facts into your comments before Judging who you don’t know.
Less then one week, already have 11 people talking about your accuzations here, and now you want to interview me. Shame on you…
Thank you for confirming you are full of shit and knew TelexFree was a Ponzi scheme all along.
To anyone reading this after the fact, the reason Fabio won’t answer the simple question is because it would require him to admit he didn’t sell $633,578 worth of VOIP packages to retail customers.
Ergo Fabio would then have to admit he knew his $633,578 came from subsequent investors, ergo proving he knew TelexFree was a Ponzi scheme.
You have a nice day now Fabio. Say hi to Carlos for me.
Your accuzations calling me a scammer wasn’t about selling to retail customer or not.
You said that I earned $633,578 by recruiting people.
Don’t change the accuzations aspects made by you to another direction.
As the accuzations started with comments that I have stolen $633,578 by recruiting people into the telexfree. You need to prove and have evidence of the accuzations made.
Feel free to point out where that accusation was made.
Far as I can see you came up with the accusation in comment #22. It wasn’t in our original article or our discussion.
The comments of you calling me a scammer started in the comments #2, this was your words ( My my, one salty scammer today aren’t we.)
That was without you having full knowledge about my involvement in the company. You don’t know me and dont know how I represented the company and earned.
Did you ask me? How much money I invested? How much I reinvested? Before calling me scammer.
Before calling someone a scammer, first you should have the full dots connected, and you should have full evidence of the accuzations made.
Correct. But that has nothing to do with:
Now that we’ve established that never happened;
You stole $633,578 from TelexFree Ponzi victims. That makes you a scammer.
So you DID sign people up to an illegal pyramid scheme AND profited from the ponzi aspect of it as well.
Given the fact ignorance of the law is no defence, why are you not a scammer ?
I did sell to consumers the voip services at my wireless store that I had..
However most of my earnings came from selling back the 5 free voip accounts that the company gave away weekly in exchange for the 7 days advertising campaign ads.
We could sell at those accounts for $49.95 and keep 90% of the first month sell or sell back those accounts to the company at $20 each.
The reality is only one, the company is being charged as Ponzi and Net-winner must return need to return the money earned.
About the legal aspects of the company case, I don’t have that answer.
All I am doing is my part to give back what I earned as net-winner.
As per the SEC and Trustee filings, this money was recycled investor funds.
Using newly invested funds to pay existing investors = Ponzi scheme.
You stole $633,578 from victims of a Ponzi scheme. Whether you personally recruited the victims you stole from or not is irrelevant.
There’s no legitimate way to make money via a Ponzi scheme. So by definition, people who steal money through Ponzi schemes obtained it fraudulently and are scammers. QED.
At the very least you can own your actions, apologize to your victims and quietly move on.
Answering your question, Some of my friends did sign up to represent the company, But we did not grow the network in chain..
I was blessed for not being involved in recruiting people in chain, I did not get involved in the network meetings. That’s why that most of my earnings did not come from building team (Network). From recruiting people in chain.
If you want to consider me as a scammer, then keep for your self.
You have the right to think what you want about me. But you don’t have the right to point fingers at me just because I am the brother of the company operator.
As I understand scammers have knowledge about the company internal transactions,.. and in the case of Telexfree is something that I did not have any control.
I was a representative of the same way as the others.
Free speech. If it’s true then I have every right to publish it.
You being related to the owner of the Ponzi scheme is neither here nor there with respect to you being a scammer.
You stole $633,578 from TelexFree victims, that makes you a scammer.
And every single one of them who made money in TelexFree is a scammer too.
As per the SEC and Trustee filings, the money I earned, was recycled investor funds.Telexfree Used newly invested funds to pay existing investors = Ponzi scheme.
**(This apply to telexfree) not to the person that invested in the business or earned money to promote the products**
As you said There’s no legitimate way to make money via a Ponzi scheme. However that dont mean that everyone had knowledge about any Ponzi scheme.
As per the SEC and trustee fillings also say that the company had over 1,000,000 participants involved, generating over $1 billion..
I am sure that if you done your diligence, me as the brother of a 1 billion+ dollars company, I would have earned millions of dollars by representing the company thru recruiting people, and that would be without investing any of my own money.
I agree, There’s no legitimate way to make money via a Ponzi scheme. And unfortunately Telexfree is being qualified as a Ponzi scheme.
So by definition, people who received more money then they investment through Ponzi schemes and obtained it fraudulently (earnings) money by promoting that company, not all was scammers.
But the responsibility to return those funds earned do apply.
At the very least I could do is own my responsibility to return the money earned, and finalize the settlement, so those funds earned can go back to the telexfree states, so the trustee can have more funds available to pay the victims.
I do apologize to all victims involved in the Telexfree and I holp they can get their investment back. or at least get some of their investment back.
Your bullshit doesn’t even make sense now.
It applied to TelexFree, through which you stole $633,578 from subsequent investors through.
Trying to reframe that obvious truth is an attempt to bury the facts and is not only disingenuous, it’s dishonest.
How much you could have earned by further scamming people in no way diminishes the fact that you scammed TelexFree investors out of $633,578.
Good god man, have you no shame at all?
People who make money promoting a fraudulent scheme are unequivocally scammers.
That’s a start. Now how about you stop making excuses for your part in their losses and move on.
Fabio Wanzeler, you will not win this discussion. You can lie for yourself but what you did, you did.
Winning 600k is a huge amount of money. And it is hard to believe that you only win it “playing the game” of Telexfree with only your money. And because your brother was the creator of the company, your chances to success was huge relative to an anonymous people that did the same thing.
And no one here is accusation you of doing more money than this 600k. See how difficult is trust in the whole situation?
Finally, there is one thing we can think is: What could you do to stop it? Because you could talk directly with your brothers, maybe you know more about the whole situation.
You really thought the company was legal all the time? At some point, you could stop supporting the Telexfree, write a text or record a video saying that it was illegal. How many people won’t lose their money if you did it before the collapse?
The money is not the only problem here.
So, you just could do what Oz say:
Keep in mind that I was not a public figure, I never liked online audience.
I personally became an public figure online, only when your company started comments and contents about me on your website and without having the full facs.
Online Defamation Law provides an overview of defamation (libel) law, including a discussion of the constitutional and statutory privileges that may protect me against your accuzations, specifically when involve public online audience.
Generally, defamation is a false and unprivileged statement of fact that is harmful to my reputation, and published “with fault,” meaning as a result of negligence or malice by you, your company. State laws often define defamation in specific ways. Libel is a written defamation; slander is a spoken defamation.
I dispute your acussations.
Last time I’m going to say this – the truth is not defamatory.
Any further copy/paste threats of legal action will be marked as spam.
Fabio, perhaps you should have your lawyer actually look over your accusations before posting them. Remember, any you post *can* be used against you. It is public after all.
Hi Mr k. Chang, I am not accusing.. I am beying accused.
Mr OZ is the one that is acussing every net-winners of Telexfree as scammers, including me.
And he don’t want to accept that his actions, Comments, acussations can affect people around the world that became net-winners, including me..
If he want to inform the public about legal settlement agreement that involves net-winners on the telexfree case on behindmlm.com, then he should apply only comments that is available on the settlement agreement.
I sorry for any inconvenience, Mr OZ is going above his limited.
I requested him to stop with this type of accuzations, but he refused to withdraw.
I am suggesting you look up the definition of “slander” and “libel” and ask your lawyer does Oz’s assertions actually meet that definition, in case I didn’t make it clear before.
In the meanwhile, you are actually helping the search engines to find this topic by participating.
JUST BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T HAVE CONTROL, DOESN’T MEAN YOU DIDN’T HAVE KNOWLEDGE…
BESIDES, YOU KNOW YOUR BROTHER, YOU KNOW THE TYPE OF PERSON HE IS, YOU KNOW THE OTHER SCAMS HE HAD TRIED BEFORE, AND WHEN YOU SAW HIM GET RICH OVER NIGHT, YOU KNEW, HE WAS UP TO NO GOOD, AND YET, YOU WANTED IN……
As I stated previously, you “affected” yourself when you decided to steal over half a million dollars from Ponzi victims.
Instead of following in your cowardly brother’s footsteps and blame-shifting, man up, grow a pair and accept the fallout of your poor decision.
Who died and made you the moderator of free speech? I’m entitled to publish the facts as much as anyone else.
Hopefully the Trustee is reading this!
Article updated with approval of Fabio Wanzeler’s settlement.
Fabio Wanzeler filed another “but I didn’t do anything wrong stealing $500,000 through a Ponzi scheme!” motion on July 15th.
The motion was dismissed on July 17th.