United States 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, BBC reports.
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.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
