Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times,
A Georgia man accused of wire fraud and money laundering appeared in a Los Angeles federal court on Monday after being deported by Fijian authorities to face the charges following his flight to the South Pacific island.
Prosecutors alleged the 59-year-old Edward Zimbardi, of Flowery Branch, Georgia, ran a Ponzi scheme that made more than $165 million from thousands of investors between June 2022 and August 2023.
An attorney for Zimbardi could not be reached.
U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg, who described ponzi schemers as "parasites" the day of the Department of Justice announcement, detailed the allegations.
"Zimbardi allegedly tricked thousands of people to invest in his 'Crypto Program' with false promises of enormous returns," Hertzberg said. "Instead, he spent the money on risky currency trades, payments to early investors, and treating himself to a house and expensive vehicles."
When the scam was discovered, he allegedly tried to evade federal prosecution by fleeing to Fiji before he was found by authorities and returned, the prosecutor said.
Marlo Graham, special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta, noted that Zimbardi allegedly preyed on unsuspecting individuals through a complex scheme. FBI Atlanta is seeking victim information to aid the investigation.
"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," Graham said.
According to the charges and information presented in court, Zimbardi allegedly promoted The Crypto Program through videos and websites, telling potential investors it was a chance to buy advertising packages that would deliver a guaranteed 25 percent monthly return.
Investors were advised to send cryptocurrency to digital wallets, which, prosecutors alleged, were secretly controlled by Zimbardi. Thousands of people sent more than $165 million his way.
Instead of advertising packages, Zimbardi allegedly put more than $34 million into risky foreign currency trades and lost a substantial portion of it. In order to keep the scheme running, he allegedly used money from later investors to pay earlier ones. He also allegedly spent at least $10 million on personal expenses, including a house for his son, luxury vehicles, and alimony payments to his ex-wife.
The program collapsed in August 2023, and victims lost their funds. Zimbardi then traveled to Hawaii, Fiji, and other places.
In July 2025, after learning of the FBI investigation, he fled to Fiji and stayed more than a year. In May, he canceled plans to attend his son's wedding in Virginia, suspecting agents would attempt to arrest him there.
Fijian authorities deported him after learning of the charges in coordination with the FBI and the U.S. Department of State.
A federal grand jury had already indicted Zimbardi on July 8. The indictment charges him with 12 counts of wire fraud, 12 counts of money laundering, and one count of money laundering conspiracy.