Argentina authorizes extradition of Braiscompany owners to Brazil

Source: PortaldoBitcoin Original Title: Argentina authorizes extradition of Braiscompany owners to Brazil Original Link: The Argentinian judiciary has granted the request to extradite to Brazil the couple who created the financial pyramid scheme Braiscompany, Antônio Neto and Fabrícia Farias. This decision was made on November 26, and the defendants still have the possibility to file an appeal.

According to information from the Federal Court of Paraíba, the extradition decision was made by the National Criminal and Federal Correctional Court of Argentina. The foreign court also determined that the time the couple spends in prison in Argentina will be deducted from any eventual sentence in Brazil.

Antônio Neto and Fabrícia Farias fled Brazil after Braiscompany stopped paying the promised profits to clients and authorities ramped up their investigations. After some time on the run, they were arrested in Argentina in March of last year. They were soon allowed to remain under house arrest in the neighboring country while awaiting the outcome of the proceedings.

The couple’s lawyers have already confirmed that they will appeal the Argentinian court’s decision.

The Braiscompany Case

In February of last year, the Federal Court sentenced Antônio Neto to 88 years and 7 months in prison and Fabrícia Farias to 61 years and 11 months. The decision, handed down by Judge Vinícius Costa Vidor of the 4th Federal Court in Campina Grande, also sentenced eight other people connected to the case.

Braiscompany was a company that promised fixed returns to its clients through supposed investments in cryptocurrencies. The scheme required people to purchase Bitcoin and send it to a company wallet. Brazilian authorities estimate that the company left losses of R$ 1.1 billion to 20,000 victims.

In December 2022, Braiscompany stopped paying clients. In February 2023, the pyramid collapsed: the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office filed criminal charges against Antônio and Fabrícia, and the court authorized requests for preventive arrest that authorities tried to carry out during Operation Halving in February. The couple, however, fled.

In March 2024, they were arrested in Argentina. The couple was living with their children in a gated community called Haras Santa María in the city of Escobar, where they were arrested in an Interpol operation.

Fabrícia obtained the right to remain under house arrest and, later, Antônio was also granted this benefit. The couple had a habeas corpus request denied by the Superior Court of Justice. In addition, they had a daughter born in Argentina during their stay in the country.