Former Brazilian football star Ronaldinho Gaúcho became an ambassador for 18K Ronaldinho, a scheme presenting itself as a "designer products" company. The operation promises daily returns of up to 2% on investments, ranging from $30 to $12,000, for 200 days. This arrangement functions as a Ponzi scheme, relying on new investor funds to pay earlier participants.
The company lists a "virtual office" on its website. Marcelo Lara is named President, though his LinkedIn profile identifies him as Marcelo Marcelino, owner and CEO. That profile places Marcelino in Florida. Company marketing materials, however, claim 18K Ronaldinho is based in the Bahamas and Hong Kong. Marcelino also heavily targets Brazil in his promotional efforts. This venture appears to be Marcelino's first executive role in a multi-level marketing operation.
18K Ronaldinho sells no legitimate retail products or services to the general public. Affiliates can only market membership in the 18K Ronaldinho scheme itself. Investors fund one of several "Passport" tiers: Passport ($30), Start ($150), Start Plus ($300), Professional ($450), Professional Plus ($1,050), Premium ($2,100), Premium Plus ($4,200), or the Executive Pack ($12,000). Each tier promises a daily return, sometimes up to 2%. An alternative option offers 18K watches with a lower daily return, up to 0.99%. Either way, the company pays affiliates for 200 days. This structure means an investor could theoretically see a 400% return over that period.
The compensation plan incentivizes affiliate recruitment. Direct commissions pay 7% of funds invested by personally recruited affiliates. Residual commissions operate through a binary structure. At the close of each day, 18K Ronaldinho calculates new investment volume on both sides of an affiliate's binary team. Affiliates receive 10% of the volume from their weaker binary side. That volume is then "flushed" along with an equal amount from the stronger side, with any leftover volume on the stronger side carrying over.
A Matching Bonus extends commissions across up to seven unilevel team levels. The percentage earned depends on an affiliate's rank. An "18K" ranked affiliate earns 3% on level 1, while a "President 18K" affiliate earns 3% across all seven levels. The scheme also charges a $30 monthly fee from its affiliates. This fee funds commissions distributed through a 4x7 matrix, with $3 paid for each filled matrix position each month.
Ten affiliate ranks exist, starting from basic affiliate status and climbing to President 18K. Advancing through these ranks requires generating specific accumulated investment volume on the weaker side of an affiliate's binary team, ranging from $2,000 to $10,000,000. Higher ranks also demand that affiliates personally recruit two or more individuals who have achieved specified ranks. Career Bonuses serve as further recruitment incentives. They include an iPhone X at the 120K rank, travel to Dubai for Directors, a Mercedes Benz Class C for Director 18K, a Porsche Macan for President, and a Ferrari Portofino for President 18K.
Marcelino's LinkedIn profile indicates he launched "18K Watches" in 2003. That previous watch business recently failed; its website domain is now listed for sale. It appears Marcelino is offloading any remaining watch inventory to 18K Ronaldinho affiliates as part of the current fraudulent investment scheme.
18K Ronaldinho claims its advertised returns come from "crypto trading, arbitrage and stock exchange operations." No verifiable evidence supports the company's participation in any such activities. The company also provides no evidence that it uses external revenue from any source to pay its affiliates. New investment funds are the only identifiable source of income entering the company. The practice of recycling new investor money to pay existing affiliates makes 18K Ronaldinho a Ponzi scheme.
Neither Marcelo Marcelino, Marcelo Lara, Ronaldinho Gaúcho, nor 18K Ronaldinho are registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to offer securities. This lack of registration means 18K Ronaldinho, Marcelino, and Gaúcho are committing securities fraud at a minimum. Ronaldinho Gaúcho resides in Brazil. There is no indication that 18K Ronaldinho has registered with Brazil's CVM (Comissão de Valores Mobiliários), the country's securities regulator.
The scheme's marketing materials also feature Bill Gates. Gates has no connection to 18K Ronaldinho; his image is used without authorization. When affiliate recruitment slows, new investment will inevitably dry up. This will cut off the scheme's revenue stream, leading to an unavoidable collapse. The mathematics of Ponzi schemes ensure that most participants lose money when they fail.