By Kathy Bazoian Phelps
Below is a summary of Ponzi scheme activity reported for January 2026. There were at least 11 new Ponzi schemes revealed this month, 6 guilty pleas, 2 criminal convictions, and more than 42 years of prison sentences. The average age of the fraudsters was about 44 years old. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed.
Satish Appalukutty, of California, was charged by the SEC on allegations that he defrauded at least 100 investors out of at least $37 million. He ran the scheme through Lorven Funds and Lorven Advisors LLC, soliciting many of his investors through a Hindu temple he attended. He promised returns ranging from 8% to 62.5% annually from the purchase of well-known stocks at a discount and the purchase of private pre-IPO stocks. He alleged misappropriated approximately $6.7 million for is personal expenditures and used approximately $4.4 million for his software startup, Vistalytics Inc.
Ricardi Celicourt and Brisly Guillaume were ordered to pay the SEC more than $1.48 million for their role in the Royal Bengal Logistics Ponzi scheme. The scheme raised approximately $112 million from 1,500 investors and targeted Haitian-Americans. Sanjay Singh was sentenced to 23 years in prison last year in connection with the scheme.
Wynn A.D. Charlebois, 55, of North Carolina, was sentenced to 6 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $5.7 million in restitution for orchestrating a Ponzi scheme through his companies, WC Private, Wilcox Hybrid, Damon Investments, and others. He promised returns from risk-free investments, subscription agreements, and loans. He defrauded more than 40 victims out of approximately $6 million.
Mark Dente, of Ohio, took the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination during trial relating to an alleged scheme he ran through AEM Services LLC. AEM Services LLC purported to manage a portfolio of real estate investments, and Dente sold investors securities in this portfolio in the form of promissory notes and LLC interests. He is accused of defrauding investors out of $200 million.
Sylvein William Maximilian D’Habsburg XVII, 49, of California, pleaded guilty to defrauding elderly church parishioners and others in a Ponzi scheme that took in at least $5.9 million. He ran the scheme through Wild Rabbit Technologies LLC and BAI Intelligence LLC, claiming he had artificial intelligence technology that could predict the future and detect a COVID-19 infection based solely on a video recording. He also claimed he had received $500 million in funding from high profile sources.
Travis Ford and his company Wolf Capital Crypto Trading were sued by the CFTC based on accusations that they were operating a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment pool. They collected at least $10.1 million from more than 3,375 participants. Investors deposited stablecoins after being promised daily returns ranging from 1% to 3.5% per day. That would equal annual returns of between 365% and 1,277.5%. Ford admitted to using Photoshop to create fake trade screenshots and portfolios value. Ford pleaded guilty to related charges last year and was sentenced to 5 years in prison.
Siddharth Jawahar, 38, pleaded guilty to charges relating to a Ponzi scheme run through Swiftarc Capital LLC. Jawahar invested $10 million of the $35 million of investor the funds into a single investment called Philip Morris Pakistan (PMP). He also used the following entities as part of his scheme. Swiftarc Fund LP; Swiftarc LLC; Swiftarc Holdings; SJ Investment Holdings LLC; Order of Magnitude Ventures LLC; Extra Sensory Perception Inc.; Swiftarc Growth Fund LP; Swiftarc Opportunities Fund LP; SJ Investment Holdings LLC; SV Labs SPV 1 LP; Swiftarc Venture Labs Fund GP LLC; SJDB Ventures LLC; Swiftarc Ventures LLC; Swiftarc Venture Labs Fund LP; Swiftarc Telehealth Labs Fund LP; NI Stubbs LLC; and Swiftarc Beauty Fund LP.
Robert Leake, a former NFL player, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded victims out of more than $5 million. He promised returns from luxury real estate investments, gold mines in Alaska and Ghana, and other ventures. He also fraudulently offered personal guarantees.
Matthew Melton, 61, of Colorado, was extradited from the United Kingdom to face charges relating to an alleged Ponzi scheme run through his investment fund, Price Physics. Melton promised returns of 12% per month from investments in futures contracts using a proprietary trading algorithm.
Bernardo Mendia-Alcaraz, his private equity firm, Toltec Capital LLC, and relief defendants Edith F. Ramirez Cano and Fondo Toltec S de RL de CV, had final judgments entered against them in an action filed by the SEC. The SEC accused them of running a Ponzi scheme that raised approximately $3.3 million from investors.
Doug Miller and James Delverne, of Ohio, pleaded guilty to charges relating to their role in a Ponzi scheme run through Northwest Capital. The scheme brought in approximately $72 million from at least 200 people. Richard Scheich pleaded guilty to the scheme last year. The following entities were also associated with the scheme: Briarfield Capital, ThunderRoad Partners, TRF Fund 1, TRF Fund 2, Kings Point Leasing and Winding Creek Partners.
LaShonda Moore, 38, and Marlon Moore, 39, of Texas, were convicted of running a multi-million Ponzi scheme during the pandemic. They ran an illegal chain-referral Ponzi scheme called BINT, "Blessing in No Time,” and offered 800% returns for every $1,400 investment. They also promised a refund if investors were unsatisfied. The scheme defrauded 10,000 people.
Matthew M. Motil, 42, of Ohio, entered into a final consent judgment with the SEC in connection with a scheme that defrauded investors with promises of returns from low-risk, high- return promissory notes that were to be collateralized by mortgages. He was sentenced to 70 months in prison last year.
Michael Anthony Lucci, 32, and his wife, Emily Marie Lucci, 30, were arrested on allegations that they were running an automotive title fraud scheme that involved more than $500,000.
Brett Schraber, of Minnesota, was accused of running a $100 million Ponzi scheme through his entities: EZ Capital, LLC; EZ Cash, LLC; EZ Ca$h, Inc.; BP Financial, LLC; Burnsville Check Cashing, LLC; EZ Holdings, LLC, Fridley Financial, LLC; Northfield Financial, LLC; North Shore Funding, LLC; and Orchard Investments, LLC. He promised returns from a scheme in which he said he was giving workers their workers compensation funds early as a lump sum in exchange for receiving their settlement later. A judge froze his assets, and he died by suicide the next day.
Carl Channing Spence, 40, of Texas, pleaded guilty to charges relating to a Ponzi investment scheme run through AEI Financial that took in approximately $2.1 million. He promised victims 10% to 12% for investments in popular stocks.
Caleb Joseph Ward, Jeremy George McNutt, and Geosyn Mining, LLC were charged by the SEC on allegations that they were running a $5.6 million cryptocurrency mining Ponzi scheme. They raised funds from more than 60 investors and offered them returns from investment contracts called “rental agreements” for crypto mining machines. Investors were promised 99% to 101% of the crypto mined by their rented hardware. They also offered GSYN tokens, claiming these digital tokens were backed by the company’s fleet of miners. Chester Wildey was a promoter for the scheme for which is received substantial commissions.
INTERNATIONAL PONZI SCHEME NEWS
Algeria
Authorities accused OCM, a digital platform, of defrauding thousands of people in a Ponzi scheme.
England
The individuals operating 79th Group, a suspected £200 million Ponzi scheme were adjudged bankrupt. The sold “loan notes” to investors through third-party brokers and promised high returns that were secured by property developments.
India
Priti Rane, and her husband, Sachin Rane, and Sagar Karivdekar, were accused of running a Ponzi scheme. Investors were promised monthly returns of 4% to 5%.
Several cryptocurrency schemes were shut down, including UMT, UBIT, Ultraverse and MMMC. Nagireddy Sudheer Naidu, Mangi Soma Raju, 41, Gurala Srikanth, and Allipalli Venkata Ramesh Babu were arrested in connection with the schemes.
Raj Kundra was accused of being linked to Amit Bhardwaj and the Gain Bitcoin Ponzi scheme. The scheme promised returns from cryptocurrency mining.
Nigeria
Authorities are investigating Enoch Adeoye and a cryptocurrency platform operating under Agape Trade and Agape Thrift. Approximately 950 investors invested in the scheme.
Philippines
Authorities shut down Seek Explore Sports Association Inc. and fined the company P1 million. Investors were promised substantial returns and commissions of up to 17%.
Singapore
Soh Jian Kun, 33, pleaded guilty to charges relating to a Ponzi scheme run through Cortina Watch. He stole approximately $500,000 from 14 victims in a scam that involved supposed “hard to obtain” watches. Kun never obtained luxury watches, however.
South Korea
Chairman Lee, CEO Ahn, and Chairman Oh were sentenced to 12 years in prison each in connection with the Popcornsoft. They were accused of deceiving investors by holding seminars promising guaranteed returns of 15% from domestic and international futures trading through an AI trading program. Popcornsoft was fined 50 million Korean wan.
