By Kathy Bazoian Phelps
Below is a summary of Ponzi scheme activity reported for November 2025. There were at least 6 new Ponzi schemes revealed this month, 5 guilty pleas, 1 criminal conviction, and about 100 years of prison sentences. The average age of the fraudsters was about 52 years old. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed.
Robynne Alexander, 63, of Massachusetts, was sentenced to 2½ years in prison in connection with a fraudulent real estate investment scheme that defrauded investors out of more than $3 million. Alexander fraudulently raised money for a real estate venture in Raxx-LeMay, LLC and Elm and Baker, LLC.
Milendophe Duperier, 34, of Massachusetts, was sentenced to 5 years in prison in connection with a scheme he ran with his girlfriend, Vanessa Joseph, 27, who was sentenced to one day. They promised investors returns from securities investments and brought in more than $3.2 million. Duperier pretended to be an investment advisor and did not use the funds for investment purposes. The pair acquired funds from the SBA and Paycheck Protection Program during COVID, but did not use them for payroll and instead paid existing investors in the scheme.
Travis Ford, 36, of Oklahoma, was sentenced to 5 years in prison in connection with a $9.4 million Ponzi scheme run through Wolf Capital Crypto Trading LLC. The firm raised funds from 2,800 investors and promised returns of 1-2% per day, or approximately 547% per year. Ford pleaded guilty in January 2025.
Michael D. Harris, 60, of Tennessee, pleaded guilty to charges that he ran a scheme that stole more than $1.5 million from 52 victims in an investment scheme. He was sentenced to 2 years and 9 months and ordered to pay over $1.5 million in restitution. Investors were promised 10% returns through promissory notes or membership interests.
Andrew Hamilton Jacobus, 64, of Florida, pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a Ponzi scheme that defrauded mostly Venezuelan nationals. The scheme involved $94 million that was invested in Kronus Financial Corporation and Finser International Corporation.
James Johnson, 78, and Darrell Niswonger, 69, of Missouri, were sentenced to 15 years and 8 months, and 12½ years in prison in a Ponzi scheme that cost at least 99 victims $5.7 million. They promised investors 5% returns from supposedly safe investments in municipal bonds. They ran the scheme through Johnson & Niswonger Financial Resources LLC.
Linh Thuy Le and Trong Hoang Luu, of California, were charged by the SEC in connection with an alleged Ponzi-like scheme run through Inventis Ventures, LLC. They raised at least $26.6 million from at least 1,400 investors and guaranteed returns of 15% per month with a return of principal after one year. The scheme involved investments in “emerging projects” in an investment portfolio involving real estate, among other things.
Solomon Lichtenstein was charged by the SEC in connection with an alleged $2.7 million Ponzi scheme run through Taraxa Capital Fund, LP and Lightstone Trading Inc. The scheme defrauded more than 25 investors by promising 5% monthly returns through day-trading securities. Criminal charges were also filed against Lichenstein.
Saththia G. Lingan and Anirudh Venkatakrishnan were charged in connection with an alleged $50 million Ponzi scheme that involved the purchase and flipping of exotic cars. In some cases, there were no cars, and in others, multiple investors provided funds for the same car.
Thomas Paul Madden, 67, of Utah, was sentenced to 8 years and 4 months and ordered to pay almost $14 million in restitution in connection with a Ponzi scheme he ran with Jeremy Tyler Grabow. The scheme defrauded more than 200 investors out of over $25 million, promising returns from penny stocks. They ran the scheme through Cascade LLC and Savitar Systems LLC.
Brian Mitchell and Kevin Mack Jr. were sued by the CFTC accusing them of running a Ponzi scheme through Young Pros Investment Group LLC. Approximately $1 million was invested, but the pair lost over $750,000.
Della Fay Perez pleaded guilty to charges that she had knowledge that Oscar Ramon Padilla, the CEO of USMEX Financial Capital, was committing bank fraud by misappropriating funds that were to be distributed to the victims of the Robert Allen Stanford Ponzi scheme.
Pablo Silverio Rebollido, 48, of Florida, was sentenced to 19 years and 2 months in prison and ordered to pay $16 million in restitution. Rebollido ran the scheme through E-Card Merchant LLC. He promised clients that they would get loans in the form of lump-sum cash advances if they gave the business a percentage of future credit card sales or daily bank deposits. He solicited investments promising returns from short-term financing.
Marco G. Santarelli, 56, was charged by the SEC in connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme run through Norada Capital Management LLC. The scheme raised tens of millions of dollars by selling high-yield promissory notes. Santarelli has pled guilty to criminal charges.
Brent Adam Seaman, 51, of Florida, was indicted on charges that he orchestrated a Ponzi scheme that took in $36.17 million. Seaman ran the scheme through several companies known as Accanito and represented that he was an entrepreneur and currency trader. He promised returns of 18% to 30% from supposed investments into software and technologies companies and in commodities and currency.
Dakota A. Smith, 34, of Florida, pleaded guilty to charges in relation to a scheme run through Peoples Equity Group (PEG). He misrepresented that PEG owned small, profitable companies in e-commerce and aviation and that investors would own interests in the companies. The scheme defrauded investors out of over $27 million.
Caleb Ward, 41, of Texas, was convicted in connection with a bitcoin mining Ponzi scheme run through Geosyn Mining LLC. He promised returns from investments in specialized cryptocurrency mining equipment that he would purchase and host. He represented that he had locked in low electricity rates and that the equipment was actively mining bitcoin. More than $4.5 million was invested in the scheme.
Eliyahu “Eli” Weinstein, 51, of New Jersey, was sentenced to 37 years in connection with a fraudulent scheme that defrauded more than 150 investors out of more than $44 million. Weinstein had a previous 24-year prison sentence commuted by President Trump in 2021 for a scheme the caused losses of $230 million. Weinstein ran the new scheme through Optimus Investments Inc. using the name Mike Konig and ran the scheme with Aryeh “Ari” Bromberg, 51. They received money into Tryon Management LLC and solicited investments related to the COVID pandemic, a baby formula shortage, and the war in Ukraine. Five of Weinstein and Bromberg’s conspirators, Christopher Anderson, 49, Richard Curry, 39, Shlomo Erez, 57, Alaa Hattab, 37, and Joel Wittels, 59, previously pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the same scheme.
Clarence Woods Jr., 63, was sentenced to 18 months in jail in connection with a Ponzi scheme in which he defrauded 16 victims out of more than $550,000.
INTERNATIONAL PONZI SCHEME NEWS
Australia
Alev Dover, 53, was accused of masterminding a Ponzi scheme that defrauded Australians out of $90 million. The scheme was run through Dover’s Archura Group of companies in which she solicited investments in technology, infrastructure funds, and cash repatriation deals.
England
Zhimin Qian aka Yadi Zhang aka Cryptoqueen, 47, pleaded guilty to charges relating to the largest cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme involving $6 billion in stolen bitcoin. She was sentenced to 11 years and 8 months in prison. The scheme ran from 2014 to 2017 and defrauded more than 128,000 victims, promising them 200% returns. Authorities were able to track Qian by following her Malaysian accomplice, Seng Hok Ling, 46, who was sentenced to 6 years and 8 months in prison. Qian’s associate, Jian Wen, was previously convicted and sentenced to 6 years and 8 months in jail.
India
Sandeep Chowdhary and his daughter Malika Chowdhary Kapur are under investigation in connection with an alleged luxury travel business run through The Voyage Impex and The Voyage Tours. They lured in investors with promises of steeply discounted luxury vacations using “corporate travel vouchers” but provided forged documents and non-existent flight tickets.
Authorities raided 21 locations in investigating an alleged fraudulent scheme tied to Aarudhra Gold Trading Pvt. Ltd.
South Korea
Kim Jae-hee, 54, a former singer in the rock band Boohwal, has been identified as one of 69 people involved in a Ponzi scheme that collected more than $150 million. Kim is accused of having engaged in promotional activities to recruit victims. The scheme raised money from 30,000 people and promised returns of 150% over 300 days, paying .5% daily.
Spain
Alvaro Romillo aka Crypto Spain was arrested in connection with the Madeira Invest Club scheme. Authorities found nearly €30 million in his accounts. More than €260 million was invested by more than 3,000 victims. Investors were promised returns of 20% from investments in luxury watches, cars, precious metals, alcohol, and startups.
