Carlos Wanzeler, co-founder of the $1 billion TelexFree Ponzi scheme, fled the United States by crossing the US-Canada border in the dead of night as the fraud collapsed. He then made his way to Brazil, where he remains a fugitive from US authorities.

Wanzeler instructed his wife to lie about his location. He had assistance from close TelexFree investor friends to cross the border and hide for several days before flying to Brazil.

In the aftermath of the TelexFree shutdown, James Merrill, Wanzeler's partner, and Katia Wanzeler, his wife, are both in custody. Merrill faces charges of wire fraud. Katia Wanzeler is held until she can appear before a grand jury to testify.

Wanzeler lives freely in Brazil while his associates are jailed. He has refused to surrender money US regulators did not freeze. TelexFree and its management had previously stated they would cooperate with US authorities before the SEC shutdown.

One key point was $3 million in a Singapore bank account. Wanzeler uses these funds, and presumably other money stashed globally, to finance his life as a fugitive. He did not return these funds to the victims he stole them from.

Some of this money also pays a prominent Brazilian lawyer. This lawyer recently became a spokesperson for Wanzeler.

The public narrative from TelexFree management once emphasized "complete cooperation with US authorities." Now, with Wanzeler facing responsibility for the $1 billion Ponzi, this message has changed.

"I will not let [Wanzeler] go to a country that does not respect individual rights, as [we have] seen when they arrested his wife [Katia Wanzeler], [when she] hasn't even been accused of anything," stated Antonio Carlos Castro, the celebrity lawyer recently retained by TelexFree and Wanzeler in Brazil. Whether Castro understands Katia Wanzeler's detention is for testimony remains unclear.

His comments sharply contrast with Carlos Costa's YouTube videos from last month. Costa had expressed a wish for "Brazilian justice [to be] more like that of the US." At that time, Costa believed US regulators would clear TelexFree after their investigations. The reality of the TelexFree fraud can no longer be ignored.

A judge in Espírito Santo has ordered the seizure of Carlos Costa's property and assets belonging to Carlos Wanzeler's company, Disk a Vontade. Judge Ademar João Bermond ordered the seizure of two of Carlos Costa's cars. He also froze funds in bank accounts held by Disk a Vontade and VoxBras, another shell company used to further TelexFree's fraud.