Brazilian court denies release of ‘Bitcoin Pharaoh’ wife Mirelis Yoseline Diaz Zerpa

Mirelis Yoseline Diaz Zerpa isn’t going anywhere. Brazil’s Superior Tribunal de Justiça, the country’s highest court for non-constitutional matters, denied her request for release on June 12, keeping her locked up as prosecutors build their case around a crypto pyramid scheme that defrauded tens of thousands of people.

Zerpa is the Venezuelan wife of Glaidson Acácio dos Santos, a man Brazilian media long ago branded the “Bitcoin Pharaoh.” She faces charges tied to overseeing Bitcoin investments and managing approximately $3.95 million in crypto transfers connected to the couple’s now-collapsed operation, GAS Consultoria.

From waiter to pharaoh to prisoner

Dos Santos reportedly left his job as a waiter around 2014 and built GAS Consultoria into a sprawling operation based in Cabo Frio, a coastal city in Rio de Janeiro state. The firm attracted more than 67,000 clients by promising high returns on Bitcoin investments.

The operation allegedly generated losses amounting to billions of reais for investors. The enterprise reportedly operated under the nickname “New Egypt,” and the scheme was also linked to evangelical church ties, a detail that helps explain how it built such a massive client base so quickly in communities where trust networks run through congregations.

Brazilian authorities launched Operation Kryptos to dismantle the network, with initial arrests coming around 2021 and 2022. Dos Santos was taken into custody, but Zerpa managed to leave Brazil.

An Interpol notice, a Chicago arrest, and a deportation

Zerpa was apprehended in Chicago in January 2024 under an Interpol red notice connected to Operation Kryptos. She was subsequently deported back to Brazil, where she’s been held in pre-trial detention since.

Investigators reportedly linked Zerpa to continued activity in Bitcoin wallets after her initial legal troubles began. A transfer of 34.93 BTC, valued at approximately R$20 million (roughly $3.5 million at prevailing rates), was reportedly tied to her as recently as January 2025.