BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Thursday announced that about $20 million found under a mattress in a Massachusetts apartment had been seized after a Brazilian man was arrested for laundering money linked to a multi-billion-dollar global fraud. Federal prosecutors in Boston charged Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha, 28, with conspiring to commit money laundering in a case connected to the investigation of TelexFree Inc, which promoted itself as an internet telecom company but prosecutors say was actually a Rocha was detained following a court hearing,His lawyer did not immediately respond to a The arrest stemmed from an investigation into TelexFree, a Marlborough, Massachusetts-based company that sold voice-over-internet telephone service and was founded by James Merrill, a U.S. citizen, and Carlos Wanzeler, a Brazilian. Prosecutors said TelexFree was a massive pyramid scheme, making little to no money selling its service while taking in millions
of dollars from thousands of people who paid to sign up to be "promoters" and post ads online for it. TelexFree filed for bankruptcy in April 2014 owing $5 billion to its participants, prosecutors said. In total, 965,225 victims in the United States, Brazil and various other countries lost $1.76 billion when it collapsed, they said. Merrill was arrested in May 2014 and pleaded guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud charges in October. Wanzeler in 2014 fled to Brazil and could not be extradited. According to Thursday's criminal complaint, in 2015, an individual working on Wanzeler's nephew's behalf approached a cooperating witness about laundering money still in the United States through Hong Kong accounts and moving the funds to Brazil. The intermediary told the witness that she wanted $40 million transferred out of the country because Wanzeler's wife, still in the United States, was filing for divorce and knew where it was
located, the complaint said. On Dec. 31, Rocha, acting as a courier for Wanzeler's nephew, flew to the United States and subsequently met on Wednesday with the cooperating witness, whom he gave $2.2 million in a suitcase, according to authorities. After the meeting, federal agents followed Rocha to an apartment complex in Westborough, Massachusetts. They returned to it after arresting Rocha to find a "substantial amount of cash" hidden under a mattress, theRocha said the money totaled $20 million, the complaint said. Wanzeler's lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for The case is U.S. v. Rocha, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, No. 17-mj-05007. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Leslie Adler) Read the original article on Reuters. Follow Reuters on Twitter. NOW WATCH: Here's what fruits and vegetables looked like before we domesticated themA Cute & Sustainable Handmade Toddler Bed for Under $200!
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+ Recycled Toddler Bed $199.00 Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Please note that gratuitous links to your site are viewed as spam and may result in removed comments.You can't beat how easy this process was. I was concerned about making sure we got our little guy a quality mattress, that's made in the US, and Certi-pur certi Stacey Fossler Ecklandt time, helped us select an affordabl Joshua Seth. It also had to ha We were shopping for a new mattress and we totally paid HALF for the same mattress we saw at a local retail m Lizz HoodRob Minner price. After shopping at local mattress stores I thought it would be a long time before we could afford the Donita StoeckerSee allMattress For Less added 3 new photos — feeling happy.We were blessed today with an award of going above and beyond in service for the verterans we have the privilege to serve, it was a complete joy to be recognized for service we provide every day to customers.
We weren't expecting anything, but it does feel nice to be be noticed for trying to be a business with integrity! Mattress For Less added 2 new photos.Clearing out final beds of discontinued brand before introducing 2 new brands, we sell everything for 50-80% under suggested retail and are discounting mattresses from this brand an additional $50-200. As always queen sets start at $150 and we don't allow anything with less than 1yr warranty. We sell all sizes and at all price ranges; the drastically discounted sets left are queen sized, though, we still have all sizes in other brands. Our tax free special is still going, so we pay your tax! Call or text to set up a time to see what we have at 309-928-7179See allMattress For Less added 2 new photos.We have no pressure sales approach and encourage you to shop around. We also have our tax free special going on so we pay your tax. Call or text to set up a time to see what we have at 309-928-7179Mattress For Less shared a post.Would 4 of my friends please copy & repost?
American Veterans Crisis Line 1-800-273-8255 Thank youMattress For LessWe are blessed to start our day helping the Salvation Army to provide a bed for one of our nation's veterans. This is Theodore who served in the United States Army upon taking this picture he opened his hands and said I am happy #Mattress For Less added 3 new photos.Mattress Floor Model Sale, we are switching one of our brands out so we are doing a floor model sale to liquidate inventory for new brands. All mattresses being liquidated are made by Serta and are under one of the best mattress warranty systems in the country. Already marked down sets for $300 will now be $250 and luxury hybrid queen sets that are already Best prices will be marked down as much as $200 and least $50 markdowns for mattress and box. We still have everyday queen sets starting at $150 in brands that aren't leaving us. If you are in the market for adjustable sets, this is for you! This is only until Wednesday as it is the last day we will order from the company also if you want king or Cali King sets.
/mattress4less call or text to schedule a meeting at 309-928-7179Mattress For LessStory time: We started in the mattress business years ago under a franchise that advertised selling mattresses at discounts and by scheduled appointments, which we saw as a great idea. We left ties with that company after 6 months because of crooked business practices, marketed lies, and overall lack in integrity. We waited until our non-compete clause was over and started on our own with a honest approach to selling mattresses, but still using some of the cost saving measu...res. We worked other jobs as we built our company because doing business right doesn't yield return on initial investment quickly. We now have a loyal customer base that accounts for half our sales. Under the past business model of the franchise we were with, we were encouraged to do 60% of our ads advertising a single mattress. It would say something like "queen Pillowtop mattress, in plastic $150 and then a phone number". The goal was to make it look like we were selling a limited number mattresses from a private seller and there was a limited supply to create urgency.
The rest of our ads made us look like a major discounter (pictures of mattresses stacked up were gold!)When a call came in we had a phone script that was vague and got the customer in the store. Once in the store we would pretend to not know much about the mattresses but that it was a good deal and then throw out fake suggested retail prices so that customers felt they were getting a good deal. The reason they encouraged pretending to not know much was they wanted the customer to perceive the mattress as a steal and not compare pricing and specs, to play off of the urgency to encourage an impulse buy, and finally the customer had to believe we were simply middlemen so there wouldn't be any talks of warranties (which they were warranted because we were actually just dealers, but if the customer knew then that would decrease our credibility of being a mattress discounter with a specialized product) In the end, we don't advertise lies of clearing out beds for national retailers, overstock sale, or tell half-lies and say we have what people perceive to be a Pillowtop set for $150.
We will give you realistic figures which are great deals and still come in less than the con-artist for similar products. Since we have integrity we won't carry anything with less than 1 year warranty. Furthermore, we don't do high- interest financing that takes advantage of people who may be impoverished. We do offer a layaway program where people can pay at their own pace and whenever they can. We hope to do financing again one day, but the rates must be reasonable. We only sell items made in the US and love to support millitary. What we do doesn't create urgency, give false hope, take advantage of people, so it has taken time to build, but it's right. Mattress For LessThank you Jennifer Brown and all of our many past customers! Half of our business comes from repeat customers and people they refer! All of you let us know we are doing something right😀😀Mattress For Less added 3 new photos.Tax Free Tax Season! It is that time again where we pay your tax on already the best prices! As
always, queen sets start at $150 and we don't allow anything in our shop with less than 1 year warranty (we could get cheaper, but don't) All Sizes & we have a bed for every price range and style all 50-80% less than traditional stores. We don't use gimmicks and are only store that can boast over 20 set combinations under $400 in queen, we ENCOURAGE you to shop around! Call or text to set an appointment (we are husband/wife team) at 309-928-7179 to see our showroom. Li/mattress4lessMattress For LessBenefits of having a heated warehouse, daddy winPosted by shareMattress For Less added 3 new photos.$100 off all adjustable bases with pocket-coil mattress or memory foam mattress purchase for rest of 2016! That's queen sets with gel memory foam mattress and adjustable base starting at $899 and king sets starting at $1450! ALL NEW & UNDER WARRANTY! As always we have regular queen sets starting at $150 all sizes and price ranges available! Call or text 309-928-7179. Li/mattress4lessMattress For Less added 4 new photos.Fr
iday and Saturday only! $50 off full, queen, and king sets that means Full and Queen sets starting at $100 and King sets starting at $200. This is only until Saturday at 2pm! By /mattress4less call or text 309-928-7179 for meeting time. Shttress For Less shared a post.Eat pizza ranch in Peoria tonight from 5-8pmThis is an invite to help support one of my favorite non profit organizations called Jobs Partnership and all you have to do is go out to eat at Pizza Ranch in ...Peoria this evening between 5 &8pm. Jobs Partnership is a program that partners with area businesses and sends volunteers into Illinois correctional system to train prisoners for the job market. They are spreading across the state through the prison system and have the highest success rate at getting Ex convicts employed quickly and not cycling back into the correctional system. They also have half way homes to help the students in the program transitions without the pressures of transitioning until they save money to be self sufficient. So
come dine with us and share this post! Mattress For LessAt Mattress For Less everyday is Veteran's day, we love and appreciate our nation's veterans which is why we partner with the Salvation Army to make sure veterans have beds to sleep on and we will from now on give 10% discounts to all active and military veterans. We just require proof via military identification (turns out there are people who pose as veterans to receive benefits). Don't thank us, we thank you! Ca/mattress4lessMattress For LessMeet John who served 2 terms with the US Army he is a helpful, informative man that we were happy to meet and proud to serve (I especially love how proud he was to serve his country, take notice of the certificates and honors in the background)Mattress For Less added 2 new photos.Sorry I haven't been posting all the veterans I have been blessed to meet, but will start once again! This gentleman's name is Stephen and he served our nation in the US Army. The second picture is of the box the frames come in, all made here in the US... An