The specialized agents of the General Directorate of Customs They analyzed the changes made by the company dLocal Argentina SA throughout 2022 and the results of the investigation prompted a court filing. Customs personnel detected payments from people who claim that they never hired the services of an alleged educational institution. They even detected operations in the name of individuals who died before the date of acquisition of the benefits.
The firm, which acts as a payment agent for companies located abroad (Netflix, Spotify and Prime Videoamong others), stated that it operated to Academyland LLCa company based in Delaware, USA, that would be dedicated to the education service through the e-learning system without human intervention through the site www.beuinstitute.com, which is currently not in operation.
Customs analyzed 9,304 collection operations carried out by the alleged educational institution for $395 million. The agents took a sample of 800 users, analyzed the data of the individuals who had paid for the services and contacted them through a circular to corroborate the information presented. All responded that they never purchased any goods or services from Academiland LLC and/or Be U Institute.
At the same time, it was confirmed that 20 of the alleged users are estates, whose date of death is prior to contracting the service. The list of alleged students includes Customs employees, a member of the Federal Justice and people who work in the media.
As a result of all the information collected, the organization appeared before the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office No. 1, headed by Dr. Ramiro Gonzalez, within the framework of a case filed in the National Criminal and Correctional Court No. ° 5, led by Dr. María Eugenia Capuchetti, where fraud maneuvers against the public administration by dLocal are investigated.
As part of the investigation, Customs denounced the alleged owners of Academiland LLC. The reason for the judicial presentation was for illegitimate access to a personal data bank, for defrauding the public administration and for money laundering.
The final objective of the supposed educational institution would be to acquire dollars at official value and send them to the United States, simulating the acquisition of services that were never provided and that were sustained through the use of a database with particularities that suggest its lack of legality.
A few days ago, Customs raided the declared addresses of the alleged owners and seized documentation and computer equipment.
Source: Ambito
