interrogate what he claimed Illicit association and fraud For savers recruited to invest millions of dollars in pesos and dollars, Cositorto continues, as the days go by, to reveal the darkest secrets of the Generación Zoe holding, which covered not only Argentina, but also countries such as Colombia, Mexico, Peru and now Bolivia.
The United States is also looking at him under a magnifying glass after scamming more than 4,500 savers Based in New Jersey and Miami. There are already 21 detainees in the case but there is still the fugitive former judge Hector Jeremiah, who has denied his participation and denounced being another victim of fraud.
Generation Zoe, a training, leadership, and education company, began operations five years ago. They sold “financial independence” and the secrets to achieving it. Through the other window, they also offered investment plans. One of the most popular investment packages that promises monthly returns in dollars of 7.5% per month, an offer that is more generous than the best investment in the traditional system. It was a pyramid scheme, with newcomers paying those royalties.
The exaggerated performance, combined with the ostentatious lifestyle that Kozitorto and many of his followers posted on social networks, aroused suspicion. At the end of 2021, various users on Twitter and YouTube started alerting about the inconsistent business model. At the same time, the Villa Maria court began to investigate the actions of the company in the city of Cordoba, leaving behind a group of victims. In the following weeks, cases were added in Corrientes and the city of Buenos Aires.
Cozitorto has been on the run for more than two months, denouncing a smear campaign against him He asked his followers for new payments in dollars. He was looking to revive a faltering scheme when savers began flocking to Zoe’s offices looking for their money.
In the middle were countless victims who did not know social classes. Is this the The words of the fake financial coach were believed by those who invested hundreds of thousands of dollars. but also those who left him little life savings trusting in the promise of extraordinary income, and even more sinister, A harbinger of “financial independence” that was not.
Joseph and Leonard
Unemployed since October 2019 and with compensation, Jose Fernandez saw in Generación Zoe an opportunity to make a difference while looking for work in Goya, Corrientes. trying to re-enter the workforce.
The man had worked all his life for Massalin Particularesthe tobacco company that decided nearly three years ago to lower its shutters in Corrientes to move all of its production to Buenos Aires. “I worked there for 22 years. The company paid the compensation and soon everything was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was impossible to get another job.” He remembers.
Jose is single and lives with his parents, who he seeks to keep. “They don’t know anything about the money I lost with Jill Zoe. I’m afraid it will affect them.”, he admitted. The man is one of the first to report Leonardo Cozitorto and his local crooks for fraud.
Fernandez learned about the company in the middle of last year and entered it in September with an initial investment of $1,000. It was Jonathan Vargas who brought the proposal from Buenos Aires. It was very attractive to get a return of 7.5% per month in dollars and at first they stuck with the payments, even though they always wanted to reinvest all the money. And for that they offered you higher prices,” he explains in detail.
The man, who does not lose hope of getting his money back, confirmed, “They told us we could follow our investments through a virtual wallet, but it was just an app. Between the first and fifth of every month, we had to tell them what we were going to do with the money. That was the initial investment I made. Able to make up for all of that, and since it seemed to be working well, I was offered to go into the robotics business.They told us it was AI applied to the investments, and that the machine evaluated the variables and decided where the best place to put the money, be it in dollars, gold or cryptocurrencies, as Fernandez says.
In December, Jose returned his money to Generación Zoe, not imagining that after only two months the company would stop paying. “Between principal and interest, I lost $14,000,” he admits. All this was devastating. Psychologically it destroyed me. In the first days I hardly ate, it was hard for me to sleep. I managed to lose fifteen kilograms and now I have to take pills to be able to sleep, ”confirms Jose.
The man seeks some kind of solace by revealing that others have never seen the profits they were promised: “I have security colleagues in Masalen who joined Jill Zoe in the last few months and lost all their money.. Fortunately, they are people who still work for the tobacco company. “For Fernández,” Jonathan Vargas should be imprisoned and not as a complainant in the Goya case, for he was responsible for everything with the brothers Nicholas and Javier Medina; and his half-brother Lucas Camilino. These three men were arrested after they dismantled Zoe’s local office.
Leonardo Martinez had a bad feeling about the work they wanted to get into it. “It is a pyramid,” he repeated to his acquaintances, who insisted on obtaining extraordinary profits and in dollars. On the other hand, her friend did not stop showing what she had picked up in remittances, receipts and income from a society that was developing and exploiting in Argentina. Business is booming.
He showed him such a convincing offer that he finally entered it. Today, it is Martinez who leads the battle of those who have been deceived by Gil Zoe in Bolivia, Square was off the map until a few days ago, They estimate that it will have about 800 victims.
Martinez lives in La Paz. 44 years old, holder of a degree in foreign trade and a law student. Together with his wife, they decided to enter the scheme little by little and with a small capital that doubled in a very short time.. “Tell us about financial freedom. The basic salary here in Bolivia is 2530 Bolivia ($368). If you invest $1,000 or $2,000, the 7.5 interest gives you roughly a salary.”
7.5 per month and in the dollar he mentions is the income Zoe promised which has become the backbone for attracting new investors across the continent. He says that when he started to realize the money was coming in and the courses offered were real, He lowered his guard and convinced himself that it could be real. He trusted and increased his investment.
“Always enjoy financial freedom,” they tell us, and in this way people are recruited, he now recalls, evoking conversations given by reviewers to attract new members. Presentations were on all levels, with high quality food served in the ballrooms of the most expensive hotels in Santa Cruz, Cochabamba or La Paz. Zoe made references to Bolivia there, insisting on the importance of “financial freedom”. the key? Finance, Trade or Training courses offered by Zoe Empowerment Academy for those who have paid between $80 and $100 for an annual scholarship.
Once in, the upgrades to continue adding capital were consistent. They came from WhatsApp groups, which sent offers that left Buenos Aires. Martinez added his wife, who contributed a lot of his savings. In total they put in $20,000.
At the end of 2021, voices referring to Cositorto as a fraudster began to spread more aggressively on social networks. Martinez went to consult with district leaders, who tried to calm him down and tell him that all the rumors were to destabilize the company. “Look, at Christmas they bought gifts and went to a community to deliver them. One thinks it is not a scam because they are doing a good job for people. But then you realize that they played with faith. They told me only God blesses us,” he says angrily.
At the same time, they launched from Buenos Aires the promotion of the Christmas robot, an irresistible investment offering to double the capital in three months. Whoever invested $1,500 in December will receive payments of $1,000 in January, February and March. It was a boom. As estimated, In Bolivia, they have gone from 450 members to about 800.
Today everyone is claiming that they are able to recover some of that lost money. Martínez tells stories of people who put in as much as $35,000, with the promise of a stellar return. Others turned to lenders to make a bike that was left broken.
But what prevails is sadness and anger. “A lot of people have quit and have faith in getting 50 percent of what they gave back, at least. Leonardo fooled us all. We were skeptical and ambitious. You see a 7.5 or 30 percent benefit and you want more,” he says, chewing on anger. |
