The FBI busted a $43M crypto and Las Vegas hospitality Ponzi scheme

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), along with a New York court, has arrested a local man for masterminding an elaborate Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of $43 million.

On May 1, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams and James Smith, Assistant Director of the FBI's New York Field Office, indicted Edin Dalpour on charges of fraud involving misleading investment opportunities. Las Vegas hospitality and cryptocurrency trading company.

Dalpur duped unsuspecting investors with promises of high returns, which was nothing more than a disguise for a large-scale Ponzi scheme.

According to the conviction in the FBI indictment, Dalpur solicited investments through an entity he controlled, falsely representing his interests in the hospitality and cryptocurrency sectors.

He said he bought crypto in bulk and sold it to retail investors at a profit as part of a cryptocurrency trading scheme.

Investors were lured by the promise of annual returns starting at 42%, coupled with assurances of investment security and contingent insurance and debt sale arrangements.

Dalpur has been accused of forging contracts, false bank statements and fake e-mails to make investors believe in the viability of his companies.

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The FBI said the investor's funds were used to supplement earlier investor returns, finance personal expenses — including inflated gambling losses — and cover private school fees for Dalpur's children.

FBI Assistant Director James Smith said:

Today's arrest demonstrates the FBI's commitment to economic justice and ensuring that the actions of one individual do not harm others.

The release of the Dalpur scheme comes as the group of victims face it in November 2023.[w]You have a hat you can put me in jail now. Just like now.”

This is one of many crypto-related Ponzi scheme arrests made by US authorities in the past year.

On March 15, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) uncovered a $300 million Ponzi scheme under the guise of a crypto trading platform called CryptoFax, which targeted crypto investors from the Latino community in the US and two foreign countries.

A few days later, on March 18, a New York jury convicted two individuals who served as the promoters of the now-collapsed fake crypto mining and trading scheme IcomTech.

Most recently, on April 4, Irina Dilkinska, the former head of legal and compliance for the multibillion-dollar OneCoin fraud scheme, admitted her role in defrauding millions of dollars.

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