Pablo Renato Rodriguez, 40, a co-founder of AirBit Club, received a 12-year prison sentence. A consent order from March finalized a forfeiture of $65 million from his assets.
AirBit Club operated as an MLM cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme, launched in 2015. The operation promised guaranteed returns from crypto mining and trading. Federal indictments in August 2020 confirmed the scheme was a $100 million fraud.
The Department of Justice has until December 26th to file a motion regarding Rodriguez's restitution for victims. Scheduling conflicts had postponed the sentencing of several co-conspirators involved in the fraud.
AirBit Club's other co-founder, Gutemberg Dos Santos, was sentenced to 40 months in prison on October 5th, 2023. Scott Hughes, the attorney who handled the scheme's legal affairs, also received a prison sentence on October 5th, 2023.
Two promoters, Karina Chairez and Cecilia Millan, were sentenced on October 5th, 2023. Millan and co-defendant Margarita Cabrera face separate civil charges filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC's AirBit Club case against them remains stayed, pending the outcome of Millan's criminal proceedings.
Rodriguez filed an appeal against his sentencing on October 10th, 2023.
Two Final Orders of Restitution against Renato Rodriguez were filed on March 6th and March 23rd, 2025. These orders detailed the specific assets to be forfeited by Rodriguez.
The forfeiture included the balances of several bank and credit union accounts. These accounts were held in the names of Master Commerce Industries, Pablo Rodriguez, Pablo Renato Rodriguez Arevalo, Master Group S.A., Master Tax Group Inc., Yeimi M. Rodriguez, Master Tech Developments Inc. dba Global Tech Management, Cecilia Dennys Millan Lara, and Coaching Business Corporation.
Additionally, the orders seized $454,175 from a Bank of America account registered to AZ International Processing, Inc dba Digital Wallets Services. Another $27,384 was taken from a Bank of America account in Pablo Rodriguez's name.
Other seized assets included $999,936 held in escrow for a Gulfstream Jet. Authorities also seized $896,483 in cash.
Cryptocurrency holdings formed a substantial part of the forfeiture. Authorities seized 1424.74 Bitcoin, currently valued at $118.9 million, from digital wallets linked to Jorge Alejandro Rodriguez, Pablo Renato Rodriguez, and Margarita Cabrera. An additional 2499.997 Bitcoin was seized from other digital wallets of unspecified origin. The forfeiture also included 3500 Bitcoin Cash and a small amount of 0.00098384 Bitcoin from another seized wallet. Cryptocurrency held in Coinbase accounts in the names of Margarita Cabrera and Orlando Velasco Ponce contributed to the total.
Physical assets were also confiscated. An Irvine, California property was seized. Investigators took Apple iPhones, MacBooks, and various other electronic equipment. They also seized basketball and Pokemon trading cards, nineteen luxury watches, assorted jewelry, and various items of clothing.