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$20 Million Found Hidden Inside Box Spring

BOSTON (CBS/AP) – A new photo released by the U.S. Attorney's Office shows the $20 million that authorities found hidden in a mattress in a Westborough apartment.

The cash was inside a box spring and police say it is connected to a pyramid scheme involving TelexFree, a Marlborough-based company that purportedly sold VOIP telephone service.

The cash was found earlier this month by investigators who had tailed a Brazilian man from New York. That man, Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha, 28, was charged with conspiring to commit money laundering.

TelexFree had few customers and made most of its revenue from people buying into the company with a promise of payouts for posting online ads for it, prosecutors have said. They were paid with money from new recruits, often friends and family of earlier investors.

Although initially aimed at Brazilian immigrants to Massachusetts, authorities allege almost 1 million people worldwide were swindled out of nearly $1.8 billion.

(TM and © Copyright 2017 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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