Crypto▼ Bearish
Alleged $165M Crypto Ponzi Operator Charged After Deportation
Edward Zimbardi, accused of running a $165M crypto Ponzi scheme, was deported from Fiji. He faces 12 counts of wire fraud, 12 of money laundering, and conspiracy. The indictment alleges he spent $10M on personal luxuries.
Continue with
Edward Zimbardi, accused of running a $165 million crypto Ponzi scheme, returned to the United States on Aug. 14 after authorities in Fiji deported him, federal prosecutors announced Monday.
Zimbardi, 59, of Flowery Branch, Georgia, faces 12 counts of wire fraud, 12 counts of money laundering and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. A federal grand jury in the Northern District of Georgia returned the indictment on July 8.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Zimbardi was expected to appear before a federal magistrate judge in Los Angeles on Aug. 17. Prosecutors planned to seek his detention before the case proceeds in Georgia. No publicly accessible order confirming the outcome of that hearing was identified by publication time.
The charges are allegations. Zimbardi is presumed innocent unless prosecutors prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
According to the Justice Department, Zimbardi created and promoted an investment operation called The Crypto Program between June 2022 and August 2023. Promotional videos and websites described the program as an opportunity to buy digital advertising packages. Investors were promised guaranteed monthly returns of 25%, prosecutors said.
Participants were instructed to send cryptocurrency to wallets that prosecutors say Zimbardi secretly controlled. Thousands of investors transferred more than $165 million to those addresses during the operation.
Prosecutors claim the promised advertising packages were not purchased. Instead, Zimbardi used money from later participants to pay returns to earlier investors, a payment structure typical of crypto Ponzi schemes, the indictment alleges.
The indictment’s underlying cryptocurrency addresses and complete transaction records have not been released publicly. The Justice Department also has not identified which digital assets investors used or disclosed how much cryptocurrency authorities have recovered.
Zimbardi allegedly placed more than $34 million of investor funds into risky foreign currency trades. Prosecutors said those trades produced substantial losses, although the Justice Department did not provide an exact loss figure.
The indictment also accuses Zimbardi of spending at least $10 million on personal expenses. The purchases included a house for his son, luxury vehicles and alimony payments to his former wife, according to the filing.