The professional Brazilian soccer players – Gustavo Scarpa, Mayke Rocha de Oliveira, and Willian Bigode – have reportedly lost over $5 million due to investing in an alleged fraudulent cryptocurrency firm called Xland.
The company said it did not run a pyramid scheme and promised to reimburse the victims.
Athletes Have Fallen Victims
Scarpa – Brazilian soccer player who plays for Premier League club Nottingham Forest – and Mayke Rocha de Oliveira (better known as Mayke) – who competes at Brazil’s Serie A team Palmeiras – were supposedly urged to join Xland as investors by Willian Bigode.
The platform promised returns of up to 5 a month, but it seems like it drained the players’ investment. Scarpa distributed 6.3 million reais (around $1.2 million), while Mayke parted with 4 million reais (approximately $757,000). Both players filed complaints with the police several months ago. Scarpa recently commented:
“I’ve always seen stupid people fall victim to pyramid schemes and scams. Finding myself in a situation like that is horrible.”
Bigode – a former teammate of the victims at Brazil’s reigning champion Palmeiras – denied persuading the players to invest in Xland. He said he is also a victim of the supposed scam, losing 17.5 million reais (over $3.3 million):
