Do you know what tens of millions of dollars looks like? Chances are, even if you are extremely wealthy, you've never actually seen that amount of money physically stacked up in front of you. But if you've ever wanted to see such a ridiculously large sum of hard cash for some reason, you're in luck.
Yesterday, the Massachusetts District Attorney's Office tweeted out a picture of $20 million stuffed in a box spring. Federal agents found the money after busting Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha, a Brazilian man suspected of participating in a pyramid scheme. He has since been charged with one count of conspiring to commit money laundering.
Agents believe Rocha was a courier for Carlos Wanzeler, who cofounded TelexFree Inc. The company provides internet phone services out of Massachusetts, but federal authorities said TelexFree was actually a coverup for a pyramid scheme which scammed people out of roughly $1 billion. Wenzeler escaped to Brazil over two years ago, so Rocha returned to the U.S. on his behalf to collect millions of secret TelexFree money. His plan was to launder the money through Hong Kong, where it would eventually end up in Brazil.