About a year after his arrest, one of the founders of fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme AirBit Club – Pablo Renato Rodriguez, is offering a $10 million bond for his release. This becomes clear from a Motion filed with the New York Southern District Court earlier today.
The document, seen by FX News Group, notes that Rodriguez has been incarcerated at the Essex County Correctional Facility (“ECCF”) since November 2020 after having been first arrested in California in August 2020. He now requests his release and offers what he dubs “an extremely robust bail package.”
Rodriguez proposes the following conditions of release:
- $10 million bond secured by seven properties in the United States (and if the Court finds it necessary, we can also provide an additional 6 properties in Mexico and Guatemala) and a business.
- In addition to the property owners’ signatures, at least 5 additional financially responsible co-signers of the bond.
- Home confinement (except for medical treatment, attorney meetings (which would require travel to either the District of New Jersey or the Southern/Eastern Districts of New York), and advanced permission of his Pretrial Services Officer).
- GPS/Electronic monitoring;
- Pretrial Services supervision as directed;
- Surrender all travel documents and make no new applications (the government is already in possession of Mr. Rodriguez’ passport);
- Not open any new lines of credit without prior approval from Pretrial Services;
- Refrain from conduct alleged in the charging document.
Let’s recall that, according to the indictment, beginning in late 2015, AirBit Club, through its founders, Rodriguez and Dos Santos, as well as its promoters marketed AirBit Club as a multilevel marketing club in the cryptocurrency industry.
The defendants traveled throughout the United States, and around the world to places in Latin America, Asia, and Eastern Europe, where they hosted lavish expos and small community presentations aimed at convincing victims to purchase AirBit Club memberships. In furtherance of the AirBit Club Scheme, the victims were induced to buy memberships in cash, including in the Southern District of New York.
While victims saw “profits” accumulate on their online portal, those representations were false: No Bitcoin mining or trading on behalf of victims in fact took place. Instead, the defendants enriched themselves, and spent victim money on cars, jewelry, and luxury homes, and financed more extravagant expos to recruit more victims.
In total, the defendants laundered at least $20 million in proceeds of the scheme through these various methods.
Rodriguez vigorously denies the allegations in the indictment and looks forward to fighting and disproving them at trial.