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.

He then used deposits from later investors to pay earlier ones. At least $10 million went toward personal spending, including a house for his son, luxury vehicles, and alimony payments to his ex-wife.

“Zimbardi allegedly tricked thousands of people to invest in his ‘Crypto Program’ with false promises of enormous returns. Instead, he spent the money on risky currency trades, payments to early investors, and treating himself to a house and expensive vehicles,” US Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said.

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Fiji Deportation Ends a Year on the Run

The Crypto Program collapsed in August 2023, and investors lost their money. Zimbardi then went to Hawaii, Fiji, and other locations.

He fled to Fiji in July 2025 after becoming aware of the FBI investigation and stayed there for more than a year, prosecutors say. In May 2026, he canceled plans to attend his son’s wedding in Virginia, correctly suspecting agents would try to arrest him.

A federal grand jury indicted him on July 8 2026, on 12 counts of wire fraud, 12 counts of money laundering, and one count of money laundering conspiracy. Fijian authorities deported him on August 14 in coordination with the FBI and the US Department of State.

The case arrives as US crypto fraud losses surge. The FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) logged 181,565 cryptocurrency complaints in 2025 with reported losses above $11.36 billion, a 22% increase over 2024.

The FBI is now asking Crypto Program investors to submit information about their losses for potential restitution. The indictment contains charges only, and Zimbardi is presumed innocent unless prosecutors prove guilt at trial.

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Source: BeInCrypto