By Kathy Bazoian Phelps
Below is a summary of Ponzi scheme activity reported for October 2025. There were at least 13 new Ponzi schemes revealed this month, 5 guilty pleas, and 34 years of prison sentences. The average age of the fraudsters was about 53 years old. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed.
Matthew Beasley, of Nevada, pleaded guilty to charges relating to a Ponzi scheme that brought in $461 million from investors. A total of 948 investors lost a total of approximately $246.4 million. Beasley, a lawyer, promised returns from investments in loans to personal injury plaintiffs who were waiting to receive settlements from claims against insurance companies. Beasley paid himself $33.5 million, about $11 million of which went to pay off gambling debt.
Charles Bennett, of New York, pleaded guilty to running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded approximately 30 investors out of more than $5 million. He was charged after a failed suicide attempt when he left behind a note detailing the scheme.
Natalie Cochran, of West Virginia, who was previously found guilty of running a Ponzi scheme, was found guilty of murdering her husband, Michael Cochran.
Kenneth D. Courtright was sentenced to 7½ years in prison in connection with a $69 million Ponzi scheme run through Today’s Growth Consultant (TGC). Courtright promised guaranteed, perpetual monthly payments backed by advertising revenue from websites. Investors could either receive half of the ad revenue from their assigned sites or a month payout equal to 15% of their initial investment. TCG collected $132.6 million in upfront fees.
Shawn Cutting, of Idaho, was charged in connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme run though CryptoTraders Management (CTM) that defrauded elderly investors. The scheme involved over $1 million that investors invested to purchase an undivided, factionalized interest in the fund.
Wayne T. Essex, 70, and his wife, Susan Essex, 67, of Ohio, were indicted on charges relating to their business run through Essex and Associations which sold investments in “opportunity zones” around the country. Investors were promised an average return of 10% per year. More than 25 victims invested a total of nearly $11.5 million.
Alan J. Hanke, 61, was sentenced to nearly 5 years in prison in connection with an $8 million Ponzi scheme. Hanke pleaded guilty to the scheme last year that ran through IOLO Capital. He promised high returns from investments in standby letters of credit, medium term notes, and high-yield bonds. He also promised that investments were insured against losses.
Ari Laurer, of California, pleaded guilty to charge related to his role in the $912 million Ponzi scheme of DC Solar. Laurer was outside counsel for the scheme that sold $2.5 billion of mobile solar generators to supposedly provide emergency power to cellphone towers and lighting at sports events. About half of the 17,000 generators did not exist. Investors were enticed by promised returns and associated federal tax credits. Laurer took action to hide the lack of money that DC Solar was making off rentals. The owners of the scheme, Jeff Carpoff and Paulette Carpoff, were previously sentenced to 30 years and 11 years, respectively.
Linh Thuy Le, 59, and Trong Luu, 58, of California, were arrested and charged by the SEC in connection with an alleged Ponzi-like scheme that defrauded more than 1,400 investors out of at least $26. million. They promised guaranteed returns of 15% or annual returns over 360%, and a return of principal in a year. They ran the scheme through Inventis Ventures, LLC and Inventis Ventures Holding, Inc.
Jason Kenneth Lehman, 46, of Washington, was arrested on charges relating to an alleged Ponzi scheme. He represented he was opening cannabis stores, but no stores were actually opened. The addresses for the supposed stores were private residences, vacant lots or did not exist. The total amount invested was approximately $400,000 from 8 investors.
Marat Likhtenstein, 65, of New York, was sued by the SEC on allegations that he ran a Ponzi scheme through Likhtenstein Financial Planning, raising at least $4.1 million from at least 15 clients. He promised large returns from his side business of investments in business opportunities. He used his home as collateral for the notes issued to clients, but did not disclose that the home had been pledged to multiple clients. He diverted about $3.2 million for his personal use.
James Wellesley aka Andrew Fuller and Stephen Burton, two British men extradited to the U.S. pleaded guilty to charges relating to a $99 million wine Ponzi scheme. They solicited funds from investors promising returns from high-interest loans backed by rare wines. The wines never existed.
INTERNATIONAL PONZI SCHEME NEWS
Australia
Chris Marco, 67, was sentenced to 14 years in jail in connection with a Ponzi scheme that defrauded 6 victims out of $34 million. He promised returns from investments in private placement programs.
Canada
Sandford “Sandy” Sussman was accused of running a Ponzi scheme involving private mortgages ties to lake homes.
England
Zhimin Qian, the self-proclaimed “Goddess of Wealth,” was convicted on charges related to a $6.7 billion Ponzi scheme that defrauded 128,000 people in China. The scheme was run through Tianjin Lantial Gerui Electronic Technology Co. and promised returns of up to 300% from cryptocurrency and other investment products.
Daniel Pugh, 35, was sentenced to 7½ years in prison in connection with a £1.3 million Ponzi scheme he ran from his bedroom using Facebook advertisements. He ran the scheme through Imperial Investment Fund and defrauded 238 investors by promising them returns of 1.4% per day, 7% per week, or 350% per year.
Godfrey Egbendip, 59, was found guilty of running a Ponzi scheme in which he promised monthly returns of 10% to 15% from a property business called UK Property Investment Holdings Ltd.
India
Ajaysinh Rajusinh Makwana, Rajusinh Lalsinh Makwana and Vanrajsinh Dilipsinh Jhala were accused of running a Ponzi scheme through A.R. Consultancy and A.R. Capital. They claimed to invest in bitcoin and U.S. Treasury bills, promising investors 5%-10% interest per month.
Gaurav Bhagat, Devendra Tambe, Vikin Patne, and were arrested in connection with the alleged Ponzi scheme run through Phoenix Investments and Phoenix Financial Solutions LLP.
Authorities arrested Pavel Prozorov, the Spanish mastermind behind the OctaFX Ponzi scheme and seized $280 million from him. OctaFX promised users accessibility to financial markets on low spread commission-free trading and promised large profits from investment in the platform. Instead, OctaFX laundered more than $96 million through fake companies and international bank accounts.
Tashin Ahmad was arrested on allegations that he was running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded over 3,000 victims.
Tadepalli Srivenkata Aditya, 43, his wife Sujatha, 42, and two agents, Gaddhamsetti Balakrishna Murthy, 51, and his wife Nagalakshmi Kumari, 41, were arrested on charges that they were running a Ponzi scheme through Advika Trading Marketing Company. The scheme defrauded over 1,100 investors and claimed to trade on international foreign exchange platforms.
Nigeria
Authorities warned that AfriquantumX, an online platform to trade cryptocurrency and stocks, is a Ponzi scheme. Promoters of the scheme represented that the investment platform integrates artificial intelligence to optimize returns. Investments can start from as little as $250.
Philippines
Authorities issued warnings against investing with Christabel Arroyo. Arroyo solicits investment on her Facebook account for a supposed bitcoin mining and trading business.
Authorities also issued a warning against De Guzman Consumer Goods Trading which appears to be operating as a Ponzi scheme.
South Korea
Seo, the former CEO of Midas Partners, was sentenced to 16 years in prison in connection with the scheme that defrauded approximately 3,500 people out of about 350 billion won between 2018 and 2021. The scheme promised guaranteed monthly returns of about 2% interest from investments in promising small and medium-sized enterprises
Thailand
A suspect known as Kanyarat, 36, was arrested in connection with an alleged scheme involving more than 6 million baht. She lured investors into the scheme by promising returns from a supposed loan business of up to 15% per month, or 180% per year.
Liang Ai-Bing was arrested in connection with an alleged cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme run with four other people in China that brought in more than $31 million. The scheme defrauded nearly 100 people and operated on the platform Morgan DF Fintoch. Chinese authorities previously identified the other alleged members as Al Qing-Hua, Wu Jiang-Yan, Tang Zhen-Que, and Zuo Lai-Jun. Zuo was arrested in China and released on bail; the others allegedly fled. FINTOCH even featured a fake CEO named "Bob Lambert," whose profile picture was actually that of actor Mike Provenzano. The scheme promised 1% returns per day and claimed ties to Morgan Stanley.
A Portuguese man identified as Pedro M., 39, was arrested in connection with an alleged cryptocurrency and credit card scheme involving $580 million.
