>> The fear of missing out on
the next big thing can cause
people to make some pretty
risky decision indeed. And so tonight, KPRC 2 investigates
tonight, KPRC 2 investigates
a Houston man accused of
targeting the Latino community
just trying to grow money for
their families by investing
in cryptocurrency investigative
reporter Amy Davis breaks down
what federal officers say was a Ponzi scheme that caused some
Ponzi scheme that caused some
families their life savings.
>> And luxury cars, high-dollar
who tells and
ritzy restaurant federal
investigators say this man,
Mauricio Chávez lived lavishly
after swindling some 5,000
families. More than 12 million
dollars. So this is my
contractor here, Cfx Academy
LLC, Edgar Rodriguez gave
crypto FX, the company owned
by Chavez $5,000.
>> A friend of my of my
brother-in-law, Cheetah Mobile.
They’re like, hey, you know, you want to try. Rodriguez and
you want to try. Rodriguez and
his brother-in-law went to this
building on Blaylock where
Chávez another employees held.
Classes accepted money and make
payouts. These people getting
20,030 1000 for a bonus for
>> When that time is actually
sounds pretty good in these
court documents. SEC investigators say those
investigators say those
payments were made to provide
the illusion that they had
achieved significant trading
returns when they had not.
>> And when everyone get their
return back to everyone who was
part of the company would say,
oh, well, why do you invest
more? You’re going to get back.
You see that you’ve gotten it
back. Why not? >> Work early Chi as in her
>> Work early Chi as in her
family received returns and
cash several times. But now the
route $100,000. And it would my
mom say beans it with my baby. My sisters say being a business
My sisters say being a business
built entirely by word of mouth
within the Latino community.
As you see, investigators say
it was also built on lies. They say 41 year-old Chavez
They say 41 year-old Chavez
appears to have worked as a
landscaper before starting
crypto FX with no known
background education or
training in trading or
investment management. Still,
he operated in Houston, New
Orleans, Chicago, Waco, Fort
Worth, North Carolina
and California, former and
current. The Wild Chavez’s promotional videos are still
promotional videos are still
all over YouTube and social
media. He is nowhere to be
found. The office building on
Blaylock is locked up.
And no one answered the door
addresses we found for his
family members. But in a recent
court filing Trump as his own
attorney agrees, his client
is inexperienced, writing that
after Chavez started trading
cryptocurrency with his own
money in 2015, a friend asked
him to teach them in 2020.
He open crypto FX with 2 business partners and no real
business partners and no real
management structure leaving
Chávez with a management task
for which he was terribly ill
but his victims and dozens of
them who showed up outside this
federal courthouse with
pictures of crypto FX and toys
they say stole from them are by and we came
from them are by and we came
here to work and we’re not
going to allow a few people
take advantage of all the
community before the SEC got
involved. They say Chavez
personally spent some 1.4
million dollars on luxury cars
in living at the posh Post Oak
Hotel among other expenses.
9 days after a court froze all
of the company’s assets.
These surveillance pictures show Chávez and other employees
show Chávez and other employees
at the Blaylock office counting
cash cash in a Ziploc bag
before they left the business
for the last time.
>> A court-appointed receiver
is now trying to track down any
remaining money or assets of
the company. So investigators
can use that to refund victims with whatever they can collect.
with whatever they can collect.
And that is if the SEC wins its
case, if you lost money to
crypto FX, you should reach out
to the receiver to let them
know. We’re posting the website
online where you can e-mail them and before you invest any
them and before you invest any
money with anyone, you should
always make sure they’re
registered with the Securities
and Exchange Commission.
You can also see if they’ve
been sued or sanctioned in any