Crypto▼ Bearish
Georgia man's $165M crypto Ponzi scheme lured 6,000 investors
Edward Zimbardi's 'Crypto Program' promised 25% monthly returns from advertising. Prosecutors say it was a Ponzi scheme that took $165M from 6,000+ investors before he fled to Fiji.
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A 59-year-old Georgia man collected more than $165 million from over 6,000 investors in a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme, U.S. prosecutors said. Edward Zimbardi marketed the operation as “The Crypto Program,” telling people they could invest at least $550 to buy online advertising packages and receive a guaranteed 25% return every month, according to the indictment.
Those advertising packages never generated the promised returns. Prosecutors allege Zimbardi paid earlier investors with money from new ones – the classic Ponzi structure – while losing tens of millions of dollars betting on foreign currencies and spending at least $10 million on personal expenses. The scheme ran from June 2022 through August 2023, the government said.
“Victims all over the world,” U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg in Atlanta said in a statement. He warned that promised monthly returns of 25% from someone who expresses remorse for having “accidentally” lost money in the past is a red flag for investors desperate to recover losses.
Zimbardi tried to flee prosecution. Prosecutors said he learned the FBI was investigating him and traveled to Fiji in July 2025. He has not been found guilty and is entitled to defend himself in court.