PANews reported on January 12 that according to Cryptonews, according to an announcement issued by the U.S. Department of Justice on January 8, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Washington charged 51-year-old pastor Francier Obando Pinillo with 26 counts of fraud, accusing him of planning a cryptocurrency scheme that defrauded investors of millions of dollars between November 2021 and October 2023. Francier Obando Pinillo's alleged scam, called "Solano Fi," is not an ordinary cryptocurrency scam. It was reportedly something he got in a "dream."

Pinillo, pastor of the Spanish-language Ministryio Apostólico Profético Tiempos de Poder in Pasco, Wash., assured his congregants and other potential investors that Solano Fi was a “safe and secure investment.” He promised a monthly return of 34.9%.

To make the deal more attractive, Pinillo allegedly launched a social media offensive, including the creation of a Solano Fi Facebook page and a Telegram group called “Multimillionarios SolanoFi,” which had more than 1,500 members.