After a Year on the Run in Fiji, Suspect in $165 Million Crypto Fraud Extradited to the US

The US Department of Justice said Edward Zimbardi, the alleged mastermind of a $165 million crypto Ponzi scheme, was extradited to the United States on August 14 (23 Mordad) after more than a year on the run in Fiji, with the cooperation of Fijian authorities, the FBI and the US State Department. According to Arzdigital, per the indictment, the 59 year old Zimbardi ran a scheme called The Crypto Program between June 2022 and August 2023, promising investors 25 percent monthly returns and deceiving thousands of them into depositing funds into wallets he secretly controlled.

Prosecutors say Zimbardi lost more than $34 million of the funds in high risk foreign currency trading, used new investors' money to pay returns to earlier ones, a hallmark of Ponzi schemes, and spent at least $10 million on personal expenses including luxury cars and housing for his family. He now faces federal charges including bank fraud and money laundering.