Colombian justice has intensified the pursuit of Juan José Benavides, the mastermind behind Daily Cop, the cryptocurrency company accused of defrauding more than 150 investors with false promises of 12% monthly returns. A judge in Cali issued a capture order and requested an Interpol Red Notice for his location in any of the 196 member countries, after Benavides left Colombia in 2022, evading charges of money laundering, illicit enrichment, and conspiracy to commit a crime.
According to the Attorney General's Office, Benavides allegedly led a pyramid scheme that captured more than 100 billion pesos, money that—rather than generating profits for the unwary—was used to buy real estate, luxury vehicles, and launder capital of dubious origin. Additionally, the investigation suggests that Daily Cop funds may have financed illegal contributions to Gustavo Petro's presidential campaign in 2022, according to testimonies from those involved seeking to reduce their sentences.
One of them, Ómar Hernández Doux Ruisseau (CEO of Spartan Hill and linked to Daily Cop), confessed under the principle of opportunity that cryptocurrency resources were allocated to cover flight hours for the campaign. Despite Petro and his team's denials, the scandal continues to grow: at least 11 people have been prosecuted, including Sebastián Betancourt, another key operator.
While Benavides remains a fugitive, the case exposes the risks of unregulated investment schemes and the ease with which crypto fraud can infiltrate even politics. The Prosecutor's Office is now tracing suspicious transfers to accounts in Estonia and the United Kingdom, in a plot that mixes financial illusion, corruption, and evasion of responsibilities.
The question that remains is: will Interpol manage to find the man who turned cryptocurrencies into a tool for massive fraud?
