Georgia Man Charged Over Alleged $165 Million Crypto Ponzi Scheme
Edward Zimbardi faces federal wire fraud and money laundering charges over an alleged $165 million crypto Ponzi scheme. Fijian authorities deported the 59-year-old Georgia resident to the United States on August 14.
Zimbardi appeared before a federal magistrate judge in Los Angeles on Monday. Prosecutors want him held in the custody of the US Marshals Service pending further proceedings in the Northern District of Georgia.
How The Crypto Ponzi Scheme Allegedly Raised $165 Million
According to the press release, Zimbardi marketed an alleged Ponzi scheme called The Crypto Program between June 2022 and August 2023. This was an investment offering built around advertising packages. Buyers were promised a guaranteed 25% return every month.
Investors paid by moving cryptocurrency into wallets Zimbardi secretly controlled. Over 6,000 investors sent more than $165 million to those wallets.
However, Zimbardi allegedly invested more than $34 million in risky foreign-currency bets and lost substantial sums instead of buying advertising packages.
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