Argentina: Investigation against the "Metaverse Cositorto" advances
The Argentine justice system investigates an alleged mega-scam centered on the metaverso , whose main defendant is a 28-year-old man from Mendoza. The most recent news is that there was a series of raids against Giovanni Tomás David Caroglio, who was finally arrested. Many point to him as a "mini Cositorto", in reference to the detained leader of Generación Zoe . The defendant, a native of Luján de Cuyo, is registered in the office that controls the income of citizens as a seller of sportswear.
The young man is accused of being the author, along with two other people, of a series of scams related to the metaverse. According to what was published by the Argentine media Infobae , due to this action there are about 30 people who were victims and decided to proceed with the complaint. The other two members of the group were also detained in the proceedings.
Who is the "Cositorto del Metaverso" arrested in Argentina
It is not by chance that Giovanni Tomás David Caroglio is mentioned as a “mini little thing ." The now arrested for promoting scams has had a relationship with the leader of Generation Zoe. In fact, he was the one who promoted “Zoe Paradise”, the metaverse associated with the Cositorto brand.
The programmer Javier Smaldone found on Twitter a group video call in which Cositorto and Caroglio stand out, mentioning the future plans for Zoe's metaverse. The virtual meeting was a few years ago, but there the link between the two detainees is confirmed.
Caroglio says in that meeting:
“I was talking a lot with Leo to present new ideas, like Zoe Paradise. I am currently in Spain , I came to open offices in Granada. Let's bring the metaverse to the whole Latin America y europe . I am a developer of new technologies and I am preparing my own metaverse. I just met Leo and we exploded with energy."
Returning to the recent operations, Caroglio was not the only one arrested. Ignacio Manduca and the Chilean Hans Dieter Breuer Vargas -registered as a car salesman with the AFIP- are also behind bars. The victims that the prosecutor investigating the case has interviewed are only in Mendoza. There were victims from all over the country, including abroad.
Two of Caroglio's brothers, Genaro and Gitanjali, are listed as participants and are wanted by the authorities with separate arrest warrants.
How the organization dismantled in Argentina scammed
The prosecutor investigating the facts is Hernán Ríos, head of the Prosecutor's Unit for Economic Crimes and Computer Science of the provincial MPF. According to data from his office, the amount of money accumulated by the scams amounts to 800 thousand dollars. At least for now.
Ríos, on the other hand, seeks to evaluate in detail the notary's book where Caroglio and his accomplices certified their contracts. This note would give the official the possibility of having a complete panorama regarding the number of victims.
A source in the case has commented to Infobae that the organization had two modalities. The most promoted was about a digital land sale. They came to pay to promote the scam in well-known Argentine and international media.
Posing as a company that invests funds, they promised highly efficient investments through brokers. In their account, they assured the victims power invest without complying with the law that regulates investment funds. They even offered the purchase of NASDAQ contracts with cryptocurrencies .
In this way, they assured their potential clients interests that were much higher than those of the place to attract investors . As it happens in the Ponzi schemes , the first months they paid interest, so that investors raised the money they delivered. And, in addition, they will promote the succulent business with family and friends. Many entered from those positive references.
The beginning of the end
By February 2022, they began to default and gave investors the option to move to another fund. Thus, they proposed to buy with credit the virtual land of a project called Cripto Country.
The research focuses on two brands used by the organization: We Are Capital and Cripto Country. Not only Caroglio and Breuer are not listed as partners in firms of those names. The trademarks do not appear in the records or database of the AFIP or in entries in the Official Gazette. This is how Infobae reports it.
Defendant Breuer has several suspicions against him. He is linked to a construction company that could have been used to launder the cash of its victims. The car business is another clue. It is believed that it could have acquired a dealership for the same purpose. In January 2022, Genaro and Giovanni became part of a company dedicated, at least by name, to the wine business, a move that could eventually be investigated by the Justice.
A dossier source is confident.
"The only legal thing that gave the scheme an appearance framework and increased investor confidence was a mutual contract with a signature authenticated by a notary."
It is a commonly used tool. Something that is repeated in every alleged large-scale Ponzi scheme, like Generation Zoe or Hope Funds. The investigation of Caroglio and the other two defendants is expected in the next few hours. The operations continued throughout the day and new raids are not ruled out.
It is a commonly used tool. Something that is repeated in every alleged large-scale Ponzi scheme, like Generation Zoe or Hope Funds. The investigation of Caroglio and the other two defendants is expected in the next few hours. The operations continued throughout the day and new raids are not ruled out.
