Man bought Tesla, Land Rover with money from cryptocurrency fraud, DOJ says

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) -- A man pleaded guilty to defrauding investors of millions through lies and deception, prosecutors said.

Paolo Roberto Flores, 39, admitted to obtaining at least $4,781,248 from victim investors because of his false statements and fraudulent documentation, as well as attempting to commit mortgage fraud, the United States Attorney’s Office Southern District of California said in a news release Wednesday.

Flores agreed to invest their funds in cryptocurrency and take 20 percent of any profitable trades, while also telling potential investors that he had effective risk mitigation measures in place to limit potential losses, according to his plea agreement.

Flores would communicate with investors with frequent text messages, pretending to document consistent profits from the cryptocurrency trading even though the investments started declining consistently, prosecutors said. With this claim, some clients decided to increase their investments.

"For example, on July 8, 2022, Flores sent a screenshot to investors that purported to be an “Assets Overview” page from trading platform BYBIT. He had doctored the screenshot to show an overall asset amount of approximately 69.06515482 BTC (or approximately $1,502,431.64 based on the closing price of $21,753.83 for one BTC on July 8, 2022). In reality, the account had a nominal balance," the news release read.

Flores received amounts from $50,000 to $1.6 million from at least 15 people, according to court documents. He used this money to buy a 2021 Tesla Model S and a 2022 Land Rover RR.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to pursuing those who commit fraud for personal gain,” said U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath. “If you believe you have been the victim of a scam or fraud scheme, contact law enforcement for help.”  

In July 2023, Flores also made false statements about his employment status and income by submitting fabricated pay stubs to the mortgage lender to support those false claims.

Flores is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 23, 2025, at 1:30 p.m.

If you believe you were a victim of this crime, you may contact the San Diego Field Office at 858-320-1800, or the Victim Witness Unit of the United States Attorney’s Office at usacas-vw@usa.doj.gov.