Patrick Abrahão: Brazilian musician arrested for pyramid scheme

The musician and businessman Patrick Abrahão, arrested on Wednesday, October 19, in Operation La Casa de Papel, of the Brazilian Federal Police (PF), the Internal Revenue Service, and the National Mining Agency (ANM) against a pyramid scheme, used social networks to draw attention to his business.

There, he displays images of lectures and mentorships and shows trips, designer clothes, and cars.

On Instagram alone, Patrick has more than 3 million followers. He introduces himself as the founder of the PP Network, which collects “over 90,000 affiliates” and more than “100 millionaires trained.” He also posts content from Trust Investing.

According to investigations, Patrick’s network has defrauded at least 1.3 million people in 80 countries and caused them a loss of R$4.1 billion (US$778 million).

He was arrested at home in a luxury condominium in Recreio dos Bandeirantes, in Rio’s West Zone.

According to the Federal Police, Patrick is investigated for crimes against the national financial system, currency evasion, forgery, money laundering, usurpation of public property, environmental crimes, and swindling.

On his YouTube channel, which has 17,000 subscribers, Patrick describes himself as someone who has worked in the financial market since he was 12.

The videos give tips on investments and show the mentoring he does.

“That’s what I always talk about. You can have a moment of joy, we are together, and in the difficult moments, we will also be together,” said Patrick in the last video posted on the channel on Tuesday, October 18, about the Trust’s next steps.

The images posted on Instagram showing Patrick in meetings and lectures are almost always accompanied by motivational messages to his followers about achieving dreams and personal growth.

“Life is made of challenges. What we can do is overcome them!” says one of the captions from February this year.

The most recent pictures almost always try to show the lifestyle of a successful man. In one of them, from April last year, he appears getting out of a Lamborghini in front of mirrored buildings in Dubai.

“Wondering if it’s worth bringing such a machine to [Rio de Janeiro],” states the caption.

In several images, the businessman shows cars, watches, cell phones, and clothes of international luxury brands, with logos and names very evident.

Patrick is married to the singer Perlla, who also appears in many images on the businessman’s social networks.

In June, the couple celebrated their union and then spent their honeymoon in Cancun, Mexico.

The businessman has more followers on Instagram than his wife. About 2.5 million people follow the singer’s profile, while Patrick’s followers exceed 3 million.

OPERATION

In addition to issuing six arrest warrants and 41 search warrants, the 3rd Federal Court of Campo Grande (Mato Grosso do Sul) also ordered the blocking of US$20 million.

It was also granted the seizing of “money in bank accounts, very-high standard real estate, cattle, vehicles, gold, jewelry, luxury goods, emerald mine, boats, and crypto actives in possession of individuals and companies investigated.

The warrants were served in the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Goiás, Maranhão, and Santa Catarina.

With information from G1