Fiji Deports Man Suspected of $165M Crypto Ponzi Scheme to the US

A man from the state of Georgia accused of orchestrating a $165 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme has been deported from Fiji to the United States to face federal fraud and money laundering charges.

US Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said Edward Zimbardi, 59, allegedly tricked thousands into investing in his “Crypto Program” between June 2022 and August 2023. According to the US Department of Justice, promotional websites and videos presented the program as an opportunity to purchase advertising packages offering guaranteed monthly returns of 25%.

Investors were instructed to transfer cryptocurrency to wallets that Zimbardi allegedly controlled in secret. Thousands of victims sent more than $165 million to these wallets, prosecutors claim.

Rather than purchasing the advertising packages with the investment funds, Zimbardi allegedly placed more than $34 million in high-risk foreign-exchange trades, losing significant sums of money. Prosecutors claim he used funds from new investors to pay earlier investors and spent at least $10 million on personal expenses, including luxury vehicles, a house for his son, and alimony payments.

After the scheme collapsed in August 2023, Zimbardi started traveling internationally. He allegedly fled to Fiji after learning of the FBI investigation into his activities in July 2025 and remained there for more than a year. Fijian authorities deported him on August 14, 2026, coordinating with the FBI and US Department of State.

FBI Special Agent Marlo Graham said:

Scammers are trying everything they can to defraud people out of their hard-earned money, but the FBI is doing everything we can to make sure they don’t succeed, no matter where they hide.

Zimbardi faces 12 counts of wire fraud, 12 counts of money laundering, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. The FBI is seeking information from people who invested in the program.