Retired pro soccer star Ronaldinho Gaúcho testified at a congressional hearing in Brazil on Aug. 31, denying his involvement in an alleged $61 million crypto pyramid scheme that bore his name. Ronaldinho claimed he was never partnered with the company and it used his name and image without his authorization, arguing he was also a victim of the purported scheme. Images were shown of 18kRonaldinho’s marketing that depicted Ronaldinho, which he said were taken as part of a contract he signed in July 2019 with a subsidiary of the company that sells watches but that contract was terminated later that year in October and was never executed.When asked if he intended to reimburse those who invested in the company, Ronaldinho said he would remain silent. He also did not answer when asked about the $61 million lawsuit. Ronaldinho had failed to appear before two previous hearings related to the inquiry, most recently on Aug. 24 in which he blamed weather conditions for not being able to attend. The inquiry was launched in June to investigate purported crypto pyramid schemes and is being carried out by Brazil’s lower house, the Chamber of Deputies. It’s investigating a total of 11 companies alleged by the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission to have falsely promised high returns using crypto.

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Information	Details
Geography	South America
Countries	🇧🇷
Sentiment	negative
Relevance Score	8
People	Ronaldinho Gaúcho, Aureo Ribeiro
Companies	18kRonaldinho, Securities and Exchange Commission, Tornado Cash, Chamber of Deputies, None
Currencies	Ethereum, Brazilian Real, Bitcoin, US Dollar
Securities	None