The Massachusetts Securities Division filed a formal complaint on May 15th against Wings Network, charging the cryptocurrency marketing scheme with defrauding investors through unregistered securities sales. This action came just hours after the company announced it would suspend U.S. operations. The complaint detailed how the scheme targeted Spanish and Portuguese-speaking communities across the state.
Named defendants include Vinicius Aguiar, an affiliate who owns Grupo International, a front company. Sergio Tanaka, co-owner of TropikGadget, also faces charges. Husband-and-wife team Geovani and Priscila Bento are defendants, along with their company, SuccessWealth 101 Inc. Geovani Bento serves as president, secretary, treasurer, and director of SuccessWealth 101 Inc. TropikGadget operates from a UAE mailbox address and an office in Portugal. Wings Network CEO Carlos Luis Silveira Barbosa appears only as a "related party" in the complaint.
The scheme's core involved straightforward fraud. Wings Network promoted a mobile marketing platform described as technologically advanced. This platform served as window dressing. The actual money came from recruitment. New investors purchased starter packages, and those funds paid commissions for existing members. The operation lacked genuine product sales or sustainable revenue, relying instead on a classic pyramid structure hidden behind polished websites and Silicon Valley terminology.
Wings Network collected $12.5 million from nearly 9,000 Massachusetts residents within five months. The national total remains unknown; an SEC complaint could later reveal those figures.
The Bentos became the top Wings Network recruiters in Massachusetts. They personally took in $348,460 from downstream investors they brought into the scheme. They handled the on-the-ground work, booking hotel presentation spaces and going door-to-door to sign up new participants between December and the complaint's filing date.
Regulatory response moved quickly. Investigators traced payment flows and corporate shell games linking entities in the UAE and Portugal. They connected recruitment activities directly to securities fraud. The evidence was clear enough to move straight to filing the complaint, bypassing preliminary investigations.
Regulators found a well-organized operation with defined roles. Silveira Barbosa sat at the top as CEO. Operatives like Aguiar managed corporate infrastructure. Recruiters like the Bentos built the downline. Each tier profited from new investor money flowing up, making the entire structure mathematically unsustainable from the start.
The complaint signals that regulators consider this matter serious enough for adjudicatory proceedings. This means aggressive pursuit through administrative courts. For the defendants, the timing is particularly bad. Their attempt to suspend U.S. operations and avoid regulatory scrutiny failed.