Former pro footballer Ronaldinho Gaúcho has adamantly dismissed allegations that he was involved in an apparent $61 million cryptocurrency pyramid scheme. At a recent Brazilian congressional hearing, the retired sports star confronted these accusations head-on, asserting that his likeness was improperly exploited to market the dubiously named ’18kRonaldinho’ scheme, which previously pledged a 2% daily return on cryptocurrency investments.
During the hearing, marketing images from ‘18kRonaldinho’ were presented featuring Ronaldinho. Yet the ex-footballer insisted that he had not partnered with the company, adding that it had used his name and image without his consent, thus making him a victim of the scheme. He contended that the pictures were part of a contract he had signed in July 2019 with another affiliate of the company that retails watches, a contract that was later terminated in October that same year.
Furthermore, when the inquiry chairperson, Aureo Ribeiro, purported whether Ronaldinho planned to refund the investors of the company, Ronaldinho choose to remain silent. He similarly did not comment on the $61 million lawsuit against the firm. Due to adverse weather conditions, this was the third attempt by Ronaldinho to face the inquiry.
This inquiry, initiated in June to scrutinize crypto pyramid schemes, is being conducted by Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies. It’s investigating a sum of 11 companies, all of which were charged by Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission for falsely promising high returns with crypto.