Fernando Pérez Algaba appeared to be living the high life to his 920,000 Instagram followers.
A man who began his working life selling pizzas in Buenos Aires, Argentina, hinted at tremendous wealth with his designer clothes, supercars, and extravagant excursions across the world.
Meanwhile, admiring articles about him in Argentine publications gave credence to his assertions that he was a successful “Forex and cryptocurrency trader.”
But as is all too frequently the case with ‘influencers’ on social media, appearances can be deceiving, and lying can have fatal repercussions.
On July 23, two kids in Buenos Aires who were having fun by the river under a bridge discovered a bag containing the 41-year-old’s body and limbs.
Police eventually discovered his head in a rucksack downstream.
Authorities told the local media that the man was shot three times and that his limbs had been “cleanly” removed, implying that an experienced criminal was responsible.
Since then, it has come to light that Algaba was dealing with a mounting debt load, tax issues, and money demands from investors in a ‘failed’ cryptocurrency investment scheme, which he acknowledged had ‘gone out of hand.
The Argentinean, who had just moved back to his country after living in Barcelona, presented himself as a self-made millionaire who could assist others in accumulating fortune.
In the months leading up to his passing, he spoke to local reporters about his colourful “rags-to-riches” journey in addition to uploading images of himself wearing fancy clothing, expensive watches, and supercars to his over one million Instagram followers.
He claimed in numerous interviews to have been a pizza delivery kid before becoming a successful “Forex and cryptocurrency trader” and relocating to Miami to manage a jet ski and automobile rental business.
He said that he previously “lost everything” on the stock market and warned that trading was “dangerous,” which were both surprisingly humble statements for someone who likes to flaunt their money.
He also sprinkled it with ludicrous claims of investment success, such as that he turned $100,000 into $200,000 “in four days” on the stock market. If real, this would make Warren Buffet and others gasp in disbelief.
Although theoretically conceivable with riskier assets like forex and cryptocurrencies, such profits are exceedingly unusual and have never been regularly replicated on conventional stock markets.
Algaba was accused of beating one of the two men who accused him of scamming them by failing to deliver a car they had paid for in 2021, according to Argentine channel C5N.
He allegedly accrued ‘irrecoverable’ tax bills to the Argentine tax authorities, and just 10 months after incorporation, one of his companies started bouncing checks.
According to judicial authorities cited by the Argentine newspaper La Nación, Algaba left a letter on his phone claiming he feared for his life after an investment he made with others did not turn out as planned.
He is alleged to have written, “If something happens to me, everyone is already warned.”
The note reportedly referred to a $40,000 investment made by the son of a senior member of a local football hooligan firm.
He apparently described asking the man to ‘wait a few months for me to settle up’ but later got a call in which he ‘threatened me’.
The note, which La Nación said was shared with multiple contacts, began: ‘Hello, well, in principle I apologize to all the people that I failed them and I could not pay them what they gave me.
‘At first this started as an investment in cryptocurrencies and, little by little, it got out of hand.
“Nothing that occurred was done intentionally. There was always a chance to regain what had been lost in a subsequent endeavour to move forward. There it was—the error.
According to UK and US financial authorities, cryptocurrency investments are quite dangerous and the majority of FX trading schemes result in losses for investors.
Given the exhilarating profits that, very sometimes, may be obtained through such dangerous schemes, both markets are riddled with instances of investors losing their life savings in the blink of an eye – and frequently in circumstances they find dubious.
Few persons who lure others into failed scams are ever prosecuted for fraud because most law enforcement agencies view losing investments as “par for the course,” even though criminals have been convicted for stealing cryptocurrencies.
Tiantian Kullander, 30, who passed away ‘in his sleep’ last year, as well as millionaire Nikolai Mushegian, 29, who drowned on a beach in Puerto Rico, are just two of the wealthy people in the crypto scene who have perished too soon.
Last November, a helicopter tragedy claimed the life of 53-year-old Russian entrepreneur and co-founder of the trading and investing website Libertex, Vyacheslav Taran.
There is yet no proof that Algaba deceived investors, who might not have taken the dangers into account.
However, his exaggerated statements about his prior investment performance make it unclear if he adequately explained such dangers.
One suspect has been detained by Argentine police investigating the case—a lady connected to certain documentation discovered in the suitcase—but police believe more individuals are still at large.
Although Algaba’s body appeared to have been dismembered with care, officials do not think an organised group killed him.
Sergio Berni, Buenos Aires’ security minister, told C5N that the suspects behaved “quickly and almost madly.”
A more skilled crook wouldn’t do it this way, he said. The event was quite stunning and somewhat macabre.
According to reports, Kupper, Algaba’s missing French bulldog, was going with him.