Eight years in prison for pyramid scam with cryptocurrencies in the DR

Businessman Jairo González was sentenced to eight years in prison as the ringleader of a network that defrauded more than 400 people through a pyramid investment scheme in cryptocurrencies, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

The case

The network captured victims’ savings with promises of high returns and paid them with money from new participants, the classic pyramid mechanism. The sentence, handed down in September 2025, identified him as responsible for running the scam with high-tech tools to the detriment of hundreds of people.

The context

The case is not isolated: TransUnion reports place the Dominican Republic among the countries with the most digital fraud attempts in Latin America (6.5% in 2025), with vishing and social engineering as frequent techniques. The Central Bank, for its part, insists that cryptocurrencies are not legal tender in the country.

The practical takeaway

With any investment, the golden rule repeats itself: distrust guaranteed returns and never risk money you need in the short term. Pyramids only survive while new contributors arrive, and when the chain breaks, victims stop counting.