Mining Capital Coin’ Luiz Carlos Capuci is in a bit of a pickle.

Due to parallel criminal proceedings kicking off in Brazil, Capuci claims he is unable to pay US lawyers representing him in an SEC fraud case.

Capuci’s inability to fund representation prompted the firm Wellman & Warren LLP to withdraw on August 2nd.

On August 22nd, local counsel Gregg S. Lerman, P.A. also moved to withdraw.

Counsel has spoken with Defendant and he is no longer in a position to hire counsel as he is currently in Brazil facing criminal charges related to this litigation.

Trial in that matter began in Brazil on August 21, 2024.

The court approved Lerman’s withdrawal on August 23rd.

The SEC
filed suit against Mining Capital Coin
in 2022. Capuci (right) and Emerson Pires, in their capacity as operators of
the Ponzi scheme
, are named defendants in the SEC’s civil lawsuit.

Simultaneously, Capuci and Pires were also
indicted
. The DOJ has pegged Mining Capital Coin investor losses at around $62 million. The SEC pegs the amount at “the very least $8 million”.

Pires is also
wanted
over his involvement in the EmpiresX, another ~$40 million MLM crypto Ponzi.

Both Capuci and Pires (right) fled to Brazil before they could be arrested.

Presumably unbeknownst to them however, Brazilian authorities had opened their own Mining Capital Coin criminal case.

The investigation began in August 2022 and investigates acts of money laundering that could reach R$300 million, obtained from financial crimes committed in South Korea, the United States of America, Brazil and other countries.

Brazilian authorities
arrested Capuci and Emires
on or around September 13th, 2023. R$300 million ($55 million USD) held in bank accounts and 52 properties were also seized.

Notice of the Mining Capital Coin trial kicking off on August 21st is the first news we’ve had out of Brazil since the arrests and seizures last year.

I have no way of reliable tracking criminal cases in Brazil, so I don’t know the current status and/or outcome of the Mining Capital Coin trial.

Local media don’t appear to have reported anything so I presume the outcome of the case is still pending.

🤖 Quick Answer

Why is Luiz Carlos Capuci unable to pay his US lawyers in the SEC fraud case?
Capuci claims he cannot fund legal representation in the United States because he is facing parallel criminal proceedings in Brazil related to the Mining Capital Coin litigation. These circumstances led both Wellman & Warren LLP and local counsel Gregg S. Lerman, P.A. to withdraw from his defense in August 2024.

When did criminal trial proceedings against Capuci begin in Brazil?
Criminal trial proceedings against Luiz Carlos Capuci commenced in Brazil on August 21, 2024. The Brazilian case is directly related to the SEC fraud litigation filed in 2022 against Mining Capital Coin, which Capuci co-operated alongside Emerson Pires.

What is the SEC fraud case against Mining Capital Coin?
The US Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit

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