Fastcash has a 97.2% win rate in lawsuits against former Atlas Quantum clients
In 2019 and 2020 Fastcash has defended itself against an absurd and unfounded claim that attempted to hold Fastcash jointly responsible for problems caused by a former client, Atlas Quantum.
Atlas Quantum was a cryptocurrency exchange that raised billions of reais and ceased operations due to a liquidity crisis, accused of fraud, without returning funds to its investors, very similar to the FTX case, but on a Brazilian scale. Fastcash was one of many payment processing companies serving Atlas Quantum with payment services, to collect and disburse payments.
When Fastcash learned that Atlas Quantum had stopped processing withdrawals and was facing liquidity problems, Fastcash terminated the contract, requested that the court recognize the termination of the contract, and even so, Fastcash was harmed, suffering direct losses itself.
Furthermore, a group of lawyers, “experts,” created and sold a thesis for recovering funds, falsely indicating that Fastcash was part of the same economic group as Atlas, aiming to block funds from the payment processing company, which at that time provided services to more than 600 companies and processed billions of reais per year.
The claim, despite being completely false, relied on fraudulent documents, emotional appeals about the loss of crypto savings, fueled by sensationalist articles on niche crypto websites, and the repetition of dozens of lawsuits filed during the pandemic, requesting that its assets were frozen. Alarmingly, this narrative convinced a few judges at the first instance level that ruled to freeze some assets under preliminary injunctions, even before proper evaluation. This maneuver nearly crippled Fastcash’s business; however, the company fought back and managed to reverse the vast majority of the freezes, proving that Atlas was just one of its clients.
Most of the lawyers who created and copied this false claim gave up, but one specific lawyer, Dr. Artêmio Ferreira Picanço Neto, sponsored dozens of lawsuits and because of this Fastcash targeted this lawyer with a criminal complaint and made a request to suspend his activity by the bar association. Fastcash is also pursuing a lawsuit against Atlas Quantum, demanding damages.
Fastcash is now seeking compensation, after winning 97.2% of the lawsuits that have reached a final judgment, from both those who inadvertently tried to link it to Atlas, and from Atlas Quantum itself, for the losses suffered.
Fastcash’s integrity, independence, and transparency have been confirmed by the courts on numerous occasions, as demonstrated by the decisions, highlighted below:
“The defendant Fastcash, however, is not part of the economic group, as it is dedicated to electronic payment processing, and entered into a contract with the defendant Atlas Serviços em Ativos Digitais Ltda. […] its partners are distinct and there is no evidence of misuse of purpose or commingling of assets indicative of abuse of legal personality.”
Judge Guilherme Santini Teodoro, TJ-SP, April 2021
“…it has been proven that Fastcash is not part of the same economic group as the defendant […] Thus, the Fastcash companies are only service providers contracted by the defendant Atlas, without any responsibility and/or participation in Atlas’s business.”
Judge Daniel Ribeiro de Paula, TJ-SP, October 2020
“…Fastcash companies are merely service providers contracted by Atlas, without any responsibility or participation in Atlas’s business.”
Judge Guilherme Ferreira da Cruz, TJ-SP, September 2020
“…the appellants [Fastcash] were contracted by the defendants [Atlas Quantum] to provide payment processing services.“
Judge Ana Lucia Romanhole Martucci, TJ-SP, February 2021
Understand the case:
Who is Fastcash?
Fastcash is a Brazilian company specializing in online cash payment solutions, with a long history of operation and pioneering spirit in the Brazilian financial market. The company operates on an innovative platform, using 100% Brazilian technology, and serves over 27,000 clients and 8.6 million Brazilians.
Who is Atlas Quantum?
Atlas Quantum is a digital asset (cryptocurrency) operator and a former client of Fastcash. Atlas Quantum became embroiled in a scandal starting in August 2019, after the CVM (Securities and Exchange Commission, the regulatory body for the financial assets market) ordered Atlas Quantum to cease its activities as a collective investment fund until its situation was regularized with the agency. Shortly after the CVM’s pronouncement, Atlas Quantum stopped honoring its financial commitments to clients, suppliers, and collaborators, including Fastcash.
Fastcash provided payment processing services to Atlas Quantum between March and December 2019. The contract between the companies was terminated by court order in July 2020, at Fastcash’s request.
Lawsuits filed against Atlas Quantum are now affecting Fastcash:
Hundreds of Atlas Quantum clients have begun seeking legal action to recover the funds invested in the company’s bitcoin arbitrage services. A small number of clients, guided by a small group of lawyers, started naming Fastcash as a jointly liable party in 2020.
The argument put forward by the lawyers claimed that Atlas Quantum and Fastcash shared the same business address – a factually false claim – and also that financial transactions between Atlas Quantum and its clients used the Fastcash system.
Harassment and Procedural Fraud:
A group of lawyers representing Atlas clients initiated a private investigation to determine whether Atlas Quantum and Fastcash had formed a group of businesses.
After confirming that the companies had no corporate ties, verifying that both companies had offices at different addresses, and that the services provided by Fastcash followed normal market practices, without suspicious financial transactions between the two companies, most lawyers dropped the lawsuits against Fastcash.
However, a lawyer from Goiânia, although aware of the falsity of the claim, continued to include the company in dozens of new cases, omitting relevant information from the records that he knew, such as the nature of the services offered by Fastcash and the fact that the companies had different business addresses. This lawyer continued to include dozens of lawsuits in different states, which undermined Fastcash’s ability to defend itself.
Police Investigation:
Feeling victimized by harassment and procedural fraud, Fastcash requested the initiation of a police investigation at the 1st Civil Police Station of the City of São Paulo to investigate whether the conduct of a lawyer, who files dozens of lawsuits against Fastcash based on false or omitted information, constitutes procedural fraud.
Procedural fraud is a crime foreseen in Article 347 of the Penal Code (“to artificially alter, during the pendency of a civil or administrative proceeding, the state of a place, thing or person, with the aim of misleading the judge or expert”), punishable by imprisonment from three months to two years and payment of a fine.
Procedural harassment is an offense defined by the 3rd Panel of the Superior Court as the filing of successive and unfounded lawsuits to achieve malicious objectives.
The courts confirm Fastcash’s integrity:
After a year of legal battles, Fastcash has managed to prove its integrity and transparency in court. Dozens of lawsuits have already been concluded, and all cases that have reached a final judgment in the 2nd Instance have resulted in a victory for Fastcash. These dozens of decisions reinforce Fastcash’s integrity and transparency, and confirm that the relationship between the company and Atlas Quantum has always been one of mere service providers.
With the accumulation of favorable decisions for Fastcash, both in the first and second instances, the remaining lawsuits are being dismissed due to the understanding already reached by the courts. Fastcash is confident that it will emerge victorious in all cases that are still awaiting judgment.
Still have questions about the case? Contact us:
juridico@fastcash.com.br