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US authorities have seized $20m (£16m) in cash discovered in a bed frame under a mattress in a Massachusetts flat.

The cash is believed to be linked to a $1bn pyramid scheme involving TelexFree, a company that claimed to provide internet phone services.

Investigators uncovered the cash while following a Brazilian man, who was charged in connection to the haul.

Federal prosecutors say the defunct company swindled almost a million people worldwide out of about $1bn.

The US attorney's office in Massachusetts tweeted a photo of the windfall of cash, which was found at the flat of Brazilian national Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha, 28, in Westborough, Massachusetts.

Mr Rocha was arrested and charged with conspiring to commit money laundering.

A judge on Monday ruled that Mr Rocha was a flight risk and held him without bail.

Prosecutors argue Mr Rocha was part of the scheme, transferring millions of dollars to Brazil by laundering the cash through Hong Kong.

TelexFree, which purported to sell Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, allegedly made most of its revenue from people buying into the company scheme with the promise of payouts for posting online ads, according to federal prosecutors.

Those investors were then compensated with money from new recruits, who were often friends and family members.

"TelexFree purported to aggressively market its VoIP service by recruiting thousands of 'promoters' to post ads for the product on the Internet," the Department of Justice said in a statement on its website.</s>Here is someone who took hiding money under the mattress to the extreme after police in the United States found $20 million (£16m) in cash at an apartment.

The huge pile of banknotes were uncovered inside a wooden bed frame, the US Attorney's Office in Massachusetts said, sharing a photo of the cash seizure on Twitter.</s>- A Brazilian man, arrested in connection with the discovery of about $20 million in cash hidden inside a box spring in a Massachusetts apartment, has been held without bail.

A judge on Monday ruled that 28-year-old Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha is a flight risk and held him on a charge of conspiring to commit money laundering.

Rocha was arrested this month when the money was discovered in a Westborough apartment.

Photos shared by the U.S. Attorney's Office showed the box spring with its top pulled back, exposing pile upon pile of bills.

Prosecutors say Rocha was part of a scheme to transfer millions of dollars to Brazil by laundering the cash through Hong Kong. The money was from TelexFree, a defunct internet phone company authorities say was a massive pyramid scheme.

The Boston Herald reports that Rocha's lawyer argued that his client had no criminal record and should be granted bail with GPS monitoring.</s>BOSTON (CBSMiami/AP) – We’ve all heard about stashing money in the mattress for a rainy day.

Well it must have been pouring when police found $20 million stuffed in a bed’s box spring in a Westborough, Massachusetts apartment.

Investigators said the money was connected to a pyramid scheme involving TelexFree, a Marlborough-based company that purportedly sold VOIP telephone service.

The cash was found earlier this month by investigators who had tailed a Brazilian man from New York. That man, Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha, 28, was charged with conspiring to commit money laundering.

TelexFree had few customers and made most of its revenue from people buying into the company with a promise of payouts for posting online ads for it, prosecutors have said. They were paid with money from new recruits, often friends and family of earlier investors.

Although initially aimed at Brazilian immigrants to Massachusetts, authorities allege almost 1 million people worldwide were swindled out of nearly $1.8 billion.</s>BOSTON — A Brazilian man arrested in connection with the discovery of about $20 million in cash hidden inside a box spring in a Massachusetts apartment has been held without bail.

A judge on Monday ruled that 28-year-old Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha is a flight risk and held him on a charge of conspiring to commit money laundering in what authorities have said was a billion-dollar pyramid scheme.

Rocha was arrested this month when the money was discovered in an apartment in Westborough, Massachusetts.

The approximate $20 million in cash that was hidden inside a box spring in a Massachusetts apartment was seized as part of a wide-ranging investigation into an internet telecom company that authorities said was actually a massive international pyramid scheme, federal prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Rocha was part of a scheme to transfer millions of dollars to Brazil by laundering the cash through Hong Kong. The money was from TelexFree, a defunct internet phone company authorities said was a massive pyramid scheme.

The Boston Herald reported that Rocha's lawyer argued that his client had no criminal record and should be granted bail with GPS monitoring.

The cash was found on Jan. 5 by investigators who had tailed Rocha from New York.

TelexFree had few customers and made most of its revenue from people buying into the company with a promise of payouts for posting online ads for it, prosecutors have said. They were paid with money from new recruits, often friends and family of earlier investors.

Although initially aimed at Brazilian immigrants in Massachusetts, authorities allege almost 1 million people worldwide were swindled out of nearly $1.8 billion.

TelexFree filed for bankruptcy in 2014, its assets were frozen, and its two principals were indicted on federal charges of wire fraud and conspiracy.

One of them, former chief executive James Merrill, pleaded guilty in October and awaits sentencing on Feb. 2. The other, Carlos Wanzeler, fled to his native Brazil where he remains, U.S. prosecutors said.

According to court documents, Rocha, acting as a courier for Wanzeler's nephew, flew from Brazil to New York City a few days ago. Rocha then met with a cooperating witness at a restaurant in Hudson, Massachusetts, and gave him a suitcase containing $2.2 million.</s>A Brazilian man has been arrested after $20 million (£16m) in cash was found hidden under a mattress.

Police in the United States made the discovery after arresting 28-year-old Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha at an apartment in the Westborough district of Massachusetts earlier this month.

Mr Rocha has been accused of being part of TelexFree Inc - a defunct internet phone company - and was arrested on conspiracy to commit money laundering.</s>United States one dollar bills are seen on a light table at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington November 14, 2014. — Reuters pic NEW YORK, Jan 25 — A Brazilian money laundering suspect has been denied bail in the United States after authorities found nearly US$20 million (RM88.70 million) in cash stuffed under a mattress in Massachusetts.

The US attorney’s office in the northeastern state on Monday tweeted a photograph showing the bank notes crammed into the box spring.

The cash was initially impounded on January 4.

Cleber Rocha, charged with conspiring to commit money laundering, was denied bail in a Massachusetts federal court on Monday.

US prosecutors say he was a courier for the nephew of a Brazilian fugitive indicted over a multibillion-dollar pyramid scheme.

Carlos Wanzeler fled to Brazil via Canada and avoided arrest, while co-defendant James Merrill pled guilty and is awaiting sentencing.

US prosecutors say Wanzeler used intermediaries to try to transfer money still hidden in the greater Boston area.

Rocha faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if convicted. — AFP</s>BOSTON (AP) — A Brazilian man arrested in connection with the discovery of about $20 million in cash hidden inside a box spring in a Massachusetts apartment has been held without bail.

A judge on Monday ruled that 28-year-old Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha is a flight risk and held him on a charge of conspiring to commit money laundering.

Rocha was arrested this month when the money was discovered in a Westborough apartment.

Prosecutors say Rocha was part of a scheme to transfer millions of dollars to Brazil by laundering the cash through Hong Kong. The money was from TelexFree, a defunct internet phone company authorities say was a massive pyramid scheme.

The Boston Herald reports that Rocha’s lawyer argued that his client had no criminal record and should be granted bail with GPS monitoring.

>>Our sister station WDTN first reported this story</s>The US Attorney’s Office released a photo of the money on Monday following the arrest of a Brazilian national charged with conspiring to launder proceeds from a pyramid scheme.

Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha, 28, was charged with one count of conspiring to commit money laundering, the Department of Justice said in a press release.

He was arrested on Jan. 4 after allegedly giving a cooperating witness $2.2 million in a suitcase at a restaurant in Hudson, Massachusetts.

Agents then followed Rocha to an apartment complex in Westborough where they arrested him and seized the massive stockpile of cash hidden in a box spring.

Rocha was allegedly involved in the pyramid scheme by TelexFree, a Massachusetts-based company claiming to provide Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone services. However, authorities alleged that it was actually a $1-billion pyramid scheme operating between January 2012 and March 2014.

TelexFree made 99% of its revenue from “promoters” who were required to buy into the company at a certain price with the promise of being compensated for posting online ads about it, the DOJ said. TelexFree was allegedly only able to pay the returns it had promised to its existing promoters by bringing in money from newly recruited promoters, prosecutors said.

TelexFree’s co-founder, Carlos Wanzeler, allegedly fled to his native Brazil in April 2014 where he remains a fugitive. Another co-founder, James Merrill, pleaded guilty to charges of operating TelexFree as a pyramid scheme last October and is awaiting sentencing.</s>It might have been the first place they looked.

When federal authorities raided an apartment in Westborough, Mass., earlier this month, they found money hidden under the mattress — approximately $20 million.

Photos show a box spring stuffed with bricks of cash that were seized during a Homeland Security investigation linked to a pyramid scheme involving a company called TelexFree.

Agents found the money after they arrested a Brazilian national named Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha, who was charged with one count of conspiring to commit money laundering. The 28-year-old admitted to federal agents that he was in the U.S. to facilitate a money transfer to a founder of the company, court documents state.

TelexFree, which sold voice-over-Internet phone service, "was really a massive pyramid scheme," according to court documents. "It make little or no money from selling VOIP, but took in millions of dollars from people signing up to receive financial bonuses from advertising and recruiting."

Federal authorities executed search warrants against the company in 2014 — and court records state that "about 965,225 people lost money when TelexFree collapsed, their losses totaling about $1,755,927,755." One of the founders fled to Brazil; another pleaded guilty and admitted the company was a pyramid scheme.

In the aftermath of the Massachusetts company's collapse, TelexFree executives in Brazil allegedly plotted to retrieve money left behind.

Rocha is said to be one of those people, sent from Brazil. He traveled to the U.S. in January and June 2016, but money hand-offs were cancelled both times, according to court records.

On New Year's Eve, Rocha arrived in New York, allegedly for another attempt. He was arrested in Massachusetts on Jan. 4 after he met a "cooperating witness at a restaurant in Hudson, Mass., and allegedly gave him $2.2 million in a suitcase," according to the Department of Justice.

Later that day, agents found the cash in an apartment Rocha had visited.

He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. On Monday, a federal magistrate judge said he posed a flight risk and ordered him detained pending trial. "There is no incentive for him to remain in the United States, and every incentive for him to flee given the strength of the case against him," she wrote.
Police discover US$20 million in a bed frame under a mattress at a Massachusetts home. The cash is believed to be linked to Telexfree, a pyramid scheme disguised as a company that claimed to provide internet phone services. A Brazilian man that police were following was charged in connection to the money.