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Retired pro soccer star Ronaldinho Ga\u00facho has testified at a congressional hearing in Brazil, denying his involvement in an alleged $61 million crypto pyramid scheme that bore his name.<\/p>\n
On Aug. 31 Ronaldinho appeared<\/a> before a parliamentary committee inquiry where he refuted any role in the scheme called “18kRonaldinho” that promised 2% daily returns<\/a> on crypto. A lawsuit was filed against the firm seeking $61 million in damages.<\/p>\n Ronaldinho claimed he was never partnered with th company and it used his name and image without his authorization, arguing he was also a victim of the purported scheme.<\/p>\n During the hearing, images were shown of 18kRonaldinho\u2019s marketing that depicted Ronaldinho.<\/p>\n He said the pictures 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.<\/p>\n The inquiry\u2019s president Aureo Ribeiro asked Ronaldinho if he intended to reimburse those who invested in the company to which Ronaldinho said he would remain silent.<\/p>\n He also did not answer when asked about the $61 million lawsuit.<\/p>\n Related: <\/em><\/strong>Breaking victim \u2018trust\u2019 in scammer is key to beat crypto scams, exchanges say<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Ronaldinho had failed to appear<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n The latest Aug. 31 hearing was his last chance to appear before Congress \u2014 if he didn\u2019t he faced possible fines<\/a> or arrest in which authorities would\u2019ve forcibly taken him to appear at the hearing.<\/p>\n The inquiry was launched<\/a> in June to investigate purported crypto pyramid schemes<\/a> and is being carried out by Brazil\u2019s lower house, the Chamber of Deputies.<\/p>\n It\u2019s investigating a total of 11 companies alleged by the country\u2019s Securities and Exchange Commission to have falsely promised high returns using crypto.<\/p>\n