Alleged $165 Million Crypto Scheme Architect Deported from Fiji to Face Federal Fraud Charges

Edward Zimbardi, 59, of Flowery Branch, Georgia, was deported from Fiji on Aug. 14 and returned to the United States to face a 25-count federal indictment charging him with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with a $165 million cryptocurrency scheme.

Prosecutors say that between June 2022 and August 2023, Zimbardi built and promoted an operation called The Crypto Program, luring investors with videos and websites that pitched advertising packages carrying a guaranteed 25% monthly return.

Participants were instructed to fund their purchases by transferring cryptocurrency into wallets controlled secretly by Zimbardi. According to court filings in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, thousands of victims moved more than $165 million into those accounts.

Rather than buying advertising, Zimbardi allegedly gambled more than $34 million on risky foreign-currency trades and paid earlier investors with money from newer ones, the hallmark of a Ponzi scheme. Prosecutors say he also spent at least $10 million on himself, including a house for his son, luxury vehicles and alimony payments.

The indictment returned by a federal grand jury charges Zimbardi with 12 counts of wire fraud, 12 counts of money laundering, and one count of money laundering conspiracy. The criminal investigation was led by the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office alongside the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and Fijian authorities.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Zimbardi fled abroad after the scheme collapsed in August 2023. After learning in July 2025 that he was under FBI investigation, Zimbardi settled in Fiji and skipped his son’s wedding in Virginia in May 2026, suspecting federal agents would be waiting to arrest him.

The FBI is asking individuals who invested in the scheme to contact law enforcement authorities.