— 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. 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. 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. Rocha was allegedly involved in the pyramid scheme by TelexFree, a Massachusetts-based company claiming to provide Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone services.
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.