Clube365, a Bitcoin investment platform, operates with a deliberately opaque ownership structure, a significant red flag for potential investors. The company's website domain, clube365.com, was registered privately on December 4th, 2019. This lack of transparency is compounded by the fact that promotional materials for Clube365 are exclusively in Portuguese.
The platform's lack of legitimate products or services means that affiliates can only recruit others into Clube365. Investment funds are deposited in Bitcoin and then handed over to Clube365. The company claims to generate returns through sports arbitrage, forex, cryptocurrency trading, and binary options. Marketing materials suggest monthly returns ranging from 15% to 30%.
Clube365 uses a unilevel compensation plan. Affiliates are placed at the top of a team, with personally recruited members on level 1. Recruits of level 1 members form level 2, and so on, theoretically down infinite levels. Commissions are paid as a percentage of monthly membership fees paid by team members. The number of levels eligible for commissions depends on the affiliate's membership tier. Clube Junior members earn 25% on level 1. Clube Professional and President members earn 25% on level 1 and 5% on levels 2 through 5.
The investigation into Clube365 surfaced during research on Sann Rodrigues. News had emerged of Rodrigues fleeing Brazil with the assistance of Federal Police. He was subsequently found promoting Clube365 on YouTube. It remains unclear if Rodrigues, who is believed to be residing in Portugal, is involved in Clube365's operations. This is not the first time Rodrigues has been linked to Ponzi schemes, where he has previously claimed no involvement.
Affiliate membership tiers, such as Clube Junior, Clube Professional, Clube President, and Clube President VIP, dictate specific Bitcoin deposit amounts with third-party platforms like BitMex, ICMarkets, Binary, and Bet365. For example, Clube Junior affiliates must deposit $500 with BitMex, $2000 with ICMarkets, $200 with Binary, and $375 with Bet365. The highest tier, Clube President VIP, requires deposits of $100,000 with BitMex and $1,000,000 with ICMarkets.
The Clube President VIP Bonus involves Clube365 taking 5% of company-wide affiliate fees. When a company operates without disclosing its owners or management, it warrants extreme caution before investing any money.
Federal Police in Brazil have been investigating Sann Rodrigues.