Idin Dalpour, who lives in Manhattan, has been charged by the FBI with running a Ponzi scheme that scammed investors out of a huge $43 million over the course of several years. The plan involved trading cryptocurrencies.
The Department of Justice says Dalpour lied to investors by saying they would get significant returns on the funds they invested if they put funds into a Las Vegas hotel business and a cryptocurrency trading business.
Crypto trader charged with fraud
But these tempting promises are said to be false, as the FBI says Dalpour ran a classic Ponzi scheme, using the funds of new investors to pay off earlier ones while keeping large amounts for himself, such as paying for his kids’ private school tuition and gambling losses totaling about $1.7 million.
As alleged, Dalpour’s promises were a mirage, and he was running a classic Ponzi scheme by paying investors purported returns with other investors’ money. U.S. attorney Damian Williams
According to the charge, Dalpour has been running this scam since 2020, aiming at people in the United States and other countries. He is accused of tricking investors by making up contracts and bank records and promising them yearly returns of up to 42% while using the funds for his own gain instead of investing as promised.
Dalpour is also accused of misleading investors by telling them lies about their funds being safe and protected.For wire theft, Dalpour could go to jail for up to 20 years if found guilty.Another Ponzi plan was exposed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the middle of March, and this one comes right after it.
That case involved 17 people being charged with participating in a $300 million plan that mostly aimed at Latino investors in the US and two other countries.Over 40,000 people from ten states and two foreign countries are said to have dropped for the plan, which promised “risk-free” and “guaranteed” investments in cryptocurrency and foreign exchange.
