$20M found under Boston mattress in money laundering scheme

Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Federal agents seized $20 million in cash from underneath a mattress in Massachusetts in relation to a money laundering scheme.

The cash was found hidden inside a box spring mattress in a Westborough, Mass. apartment where people had conspired to launder the proceeds of the massive TelexFree pyramid scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha, a 28-year-old Brazilian man, was arrested and charged in a criminal complaint with one count of conspiring to commit money laundering on Jan. 5.

Federal agents searched the TelexFree, Inc. headquarters in 2014 when one of the founders of the company, Carlos Wanzeler, allegedly fled to Brazil.

Agents became aware of the multi-million dollar stash after following Rocha while he acted as a courier for Wanzeler's nephew when a cooperating witness allegedly gave him $2.2 million in a suitcase which he later brought to the apartment.