By Kathy Bazoian Phelps
Below is a summary of Ponzi scheme activity reported for March 2026. There were at least 4 new Ponzi schemes revealed this month, 4 guilty pleas, and more than 35 years of prison sentences. The average age of the fraudsters was about 49 years old. Please feel free to post comments about these or other Ponzi schemes that I may have missed.
Van Laurence Barker, 33, was accused of running a Ponzi scheme through his rehab companies, Lighthouse Estates and Red Door Legacy, and his rental company Starpoint Holdings. More than $1.1 million was invested into the alleged scheme. Barker is in federal custody on unrelated child pornography and other charges.
Jeffrey Crawford, of Ohio, was sentenced to 4-5 years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded victims out of nearly $3 million. Crawford previously pleaded guilty to the scheme that involved home building. He falsely claimed construction milestones had been met and contractors had been paid while he instead diverted funds to other projects and his personal expenses.
Nathaniel Darnell was fined $500,000 for his role in the First Liberty Building & Loan scheme that allegedly defrauded approximately 300 investors out of at least $140 million.
Christopher Alexander Delgado, 34, of Florida, was arrested on allegations that he ran a $328 million investment fraud through Goliath Ventures aka Gen-Z Ventures. The scheme supposedly gave investors access to cryptocurrency and bitcoin mining opportunities, promising monthly returns from “cryptocurrency liquidity pools.” Goliath Ventures filed bankruptcy reflecting at least 1,500 victims.
Maria Dickerson aka Dulce Pino and Dulce Brubaker, 49, of California, pleaded guilty to charges that she ran a Ponzi scheme through Creative Legal Fundings of CA. Dickerson misrepresented that that the operations were associated with a multinational casino. She promised at least 10% returns per month and lured in over 100 investors who invested $1million.
Evangelos Drosos, 51, of New Jersey, pleaded guilty to charges relating to a $10 million Ponzi scheme he admitted running between 2013 and 2025. Drosos solicited funds from investors promising returns from a variety of investments. Investors lost approximately $3 million. He then orchestrated a check kiting scheme after the Ponzi scheme failed.
Brent Shane Haigler, 43, of North Carolina, was sentenced to 2 years and 9 months in prison in connection with a real estate scheme. He defrauded at least 25 victims out of $1.5 million.
Bin Hao and his company Qidian LLC, of Florida, had a judgment entered against them in the SEC case against them relating to a Ponzi scheme that they ran. The scheme raised at least $10.3 million and promised returns of 8% to 25% from real estate loans.
Randy Hough, of Georgia, was fined and is the subject of a criminal referral for his role in the First Liberty Building & Loan Ponzi scheme. He is being asked to leave his seat on a school board as a result of his alleged involvement in the $140 million scheme.
Timothy France Johnson, 63, pleaded guilty to charges relating to a Ponzi scheme he ran as a promoter of preseason NBA games. He collected more than $3 million from investors, promising zero risk and a guaranteed return. He falsely represented that, as a third-party promoter, he would use investor funds to obtain venues and fund the marketing and promotion of the games.
Ari Lauer, 61, was sentenced to 11 years and 5 months in prison for his role in the $912 million DC Solar Ponzi scheme. Lauer had pleaded guilty to actions taken in his role as outside counsel for the scheme. DC Solar purported to sell mobile solar generators to provide emergency power to cellphone towers and lighting at sports events. Ronald J. Roach, 57, pleaded guilty this month to charges relating to the scheme. Jeff Carpoff, 55, was previously sentenced to 30 years in prison and his wife, Paulette Carpoff, 52, was sentenced to 11 years.
Marat Likhtenstein, 65, of New York, was indicted a second time in connection with a Ponzi scheme. He was indicted last year for allegedly stealing $1.2 million from 10 investors in a Ponzi like scheme. He has now been indicted on separate charges that he allegedly stole $852,000 from 5 other investors. He promised investors return as high as 30% from business opportunities he claimed he was not able to discuss.
RAD Diversified filed for bankruptcy, estimating liabilities between $50 million and $100 million and listing more than 5,000 individual investors. Regulators are investigating the operations which have been alleged to be a Ponzi scheme.
Ralph Rogers III aka Tres Rogers, 63, of Illinois, was sentenced to 6½ years in prison in connection with a scheme that defrauded investors. He promised returns from purported business opportunities in fiber optic cable installation, computer chip manufacturing for Tesla and a fitness recovery study. Instead of investing the money, he used the money from his personal benefit and to make Ponzi scheme payments to investors.
Sanjay Singh was ordered to pay over $51 million in restitution in connection with the Ponzi scheme run through trucking company Royal Bengal Logistics, Inc. Singh was sentenced to 23 years in prison in 2025 in connection with the Ponzi scheme that targeted approximately 2,000 investors mostly in the Haitian-American community. More than $158 million was raised from investors on promises of returns from a thriving trucking business.
Brooklynn Chandler Willy, 46, of Texas, pleaded guilty to running a Ponzi scheme through Queen B Advisors LLC dba Texas Financial Advisory and Chandler Capital Holdings. Willy convinced investors to in invest in Ferrum Capital and other investment companies run by co-defendants Joshua Allen and Michael Cox.
Stefan Ciopraga and YieldTrust.ai were sued by securities regulators in Montana, Texas, and Alabama on allegations that they were perpetrating a Ponzi scheme. They claimed that the decentralized application called YieldBot is “powered by cutting-edge artificial intelligence” and is “capable of executing 70 times more trades with 25 times higher profits than any human trader could.” The scheme promised returns of 2.2% per day.
INTERNATIONAL PONZI SCHEME NEWS
Canada
Bertram Earl Jones was sentenced to 11 years in prison in connection with a $50 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded 158 investors.
India
Ayush Varshney was arrested for his role in the GainBitcoin Ponzi scheme.
Nigeria
Adonu Kingsley Ifeanyi was arraigned on charges that he operated a Ponzi scheme that involved N10 billion.
Philippines
Authorities revoked the incorporation of Dual Fuel Petroleum Corp. on allegations that it was running a Ponzi scheme. The incorporators are Charles Clifford Matta, Renaissance Matta, Marithe Charenai Matta, Mark Harvey Matta and Cecilio Flores.
Valtoro Spartan Consultancy Corp., Recson Land Ventures and Realty Development Corp. were shut down as illegal investment schemes. Valtoro’s incorporators, Kelly Reno Escaner Velayo and Jether Llavan Marañon, along with Corporate Secretary Kyle Matthew Castro Jarque, were also found liable for investment fraud. They promised returns of up to 912.50% in as little as 15 days.
