A Florida man who is also the pastor of a church out of Washington state is facing serious charges after allegedly running a cryptocurrency scam that stole millions from investors and church members.
According to the January 9, 2025, announcement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington, Francier Obando Pinillo, 51, of Miami has been charged with 26 counts of fraud in connection with the scam, which they say took place between November 2021 and October 2023.
Pinillo, who was the pastor of Ministerio Apostolico Profetico Tiempos de Poder, a Spanish-speaking church in Pasco, Washington, used his position to convince church members and others to invest in a cryptocurrency business called Solano Fi. He claimed the idea for the business came to him in a dream and promised investors a “safe” and “guaranteed” return. Pinillo recruited many of his investors through social media, including a SolanoFi Facebook page and a Telegram group dubbed “Multimillionarios SolanoFi” with over 1,500 members.
The Pastor told potential investors that Solano Fi used cryptocurrency “staking” to guarantee a 34.9% monthly return with no risk. However, the online platform available to investors was not real, designed to show fake account balances and purported investment gains, with no option to withdraw any funds.
Instead of using the funds as promised, Pinillo allegedly took the money for himself and his co-conspirators, defrauding victims into making cryptocurrency transfers into accounts he controlled. It’s also alleged that he convinced investors to recruit others, offering them additional returns as a referral bonus for every new person they brought in.
When investors tried to withdraw their money, Pinillo made excuses, claiming he could not return assets until the crypto markets improved, that the system was down, or that they needed to send more money to “repair” the Solano Fi system. The indictment further alleges that Pinillo told some investors that they needed to bring in a new investor to “buy out” their account before he would return their investments.
“Fraudulent investment schemes are not new, but cryptocurrency scams are a new way fraudsters take money from hardworking, honest people,” said U.S. Attorney Waldref. “Cryptocurrency fraudsters often quickly route funds to international accounts, which presents new challenges for law enforcement attempting to recover lost funds. My office and our partners at the FBI are committed to doing all we can to recover the proceeds of these frauds for victims and to hold the people running these scams accountable.”
Pinillo now faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison for the fraud charges. The indictment against Pinillo is merely an allegation and he is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The FBI are still actively investigating the case against Pinillo. The case will be prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dan Fruchter and Jeremy J. Kelley. As of publication, following hearing dates have yet to be set.
