The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has initiated a civil enforcement action against Francier Obando Pinillo in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. Pinillo, who operates under the names Solanofi, Solano Partners Ltd., and Solano Capital Investments—collectively known as Solanofi entities—is accused of running a fraudulent digital assets multilevel marketing scheme that amassed at least $5.9 million.
Pinillo allegedly targeted 1,515 customers across the United States, including members of his Spanish church congregation in Pasco, Washington. The CFTC is seeking restitution for defrauded customers, recovery of misappropriated funds, civil penalties, trading bans, and a permanent injunction to prevent further violations.
According to the complaint, Pinillo focused on Spanish-speaking individuals with limited knowledge of digital asset transactions or commodity interest trading. Utilizing his position as a pastor to gain trust, he presented himself as the CEO of an automated trading system called Solanofi. He falsely promoted it as a risk-free leveraged staking platform offering monthly compounded profits up to 34.9%.
Pinillo provided access to fabricated online account statements showing fake balances and profits and encouraged participants to recruit others by promising them a 15% referral fee. However, no actual trading occurred; instead, all customer assets were misappropriated by Pinillo.
He failed to disclose several critical facts: there was no genuine trading platform or activity; account statements were false; and earlier payments were merely redistributions from later investors' funds in what resembled a Ponzi scheme.
The case is being handled by CFTC's Division of Enforcement staff Ken Koh, Karen Kenmotsu, Kelly Makimoto-Murphy, Timothy J. Mulreany, and Paul G. Hayeck.
In light of this case and similar incidents, the CFTC advises potential investors to verify company registrations with NFA BASIC before investing and warns against engaging with unregistered entities. They also encourage reporting suspicious activities through their hotline or online platforms.
Whistleblowers can report violations confidentially and may receive between 10% - 30% of collected monetary sanctions if successful outcomes result from their tips.
