New York Resident Charged in $43 Million Crypto-Related Ponzi Scheme

A New York court and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have revealed an indictment against Idin Dalpour.

The 39-year-old New York resident is accused of organizing a sophisticated Ponzi scheme that allegedly defrauded investors of $43 million.

$43 Million Ponzi Scheme

According to the indictment, he ran the Ponzi scheme from approximately 2020 through April 2024. He targeted investors in the United States and abroad, soliciting investments through an entity he controlled called “Entity-1.”

This entity had interests in two business ventures: a cryptocurrency trading operation and a Las Vegas hospitality enterprise. Dalpour falsely claimed to purchase cryptocurrency at wholesale prices and sell it at a profit to retail investors promising substantial returns with assurances of safety and insurance for their investments.

He also claimed Entity-1 had deals with a management company and a top Las Vegas hotel to rent condos to visitors.

Investors were lured into the scheme with promises of substantial returns, with initial rates advertised at 42% per year. Dalpour allegedly provided investors with fabricated contracts, email correspondence, and bank statements to support his false claims about the profitability and legitimacy of the ventures.

The indictment outlines that Dalpour did not use investors’ funds as promised. Instead, he used the money contributed by later investors to pay earlier participants their returns.

Dalpour also reportedly used investor funds for personal expenses, including gambling losses totaling approximately $1.7 million, expenditures from Art Direct amounting to over $400,000, and private school tuition for his children.

When investors sought to recover their investments, he reportedly provided false explanations, including claims of frozen funds due to a hack of the Hotel’s servers and non-existent bank accounts.

Dalpour Faces Upto 20 Years in Prison

The indictment also details a confrontation in November 2023, where Dalpour reportedly confessed to lying about the operation of the Las Vegas hospitality business, the misuse of investor funds, and the fabrication of contracts and bank records.

During this encounter, Dalpour said, “What you already have, you have, you can put me in jail now, like right now.”

Dalpour’s arrest marks a significant step in the investigation, If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for wire fraud.

The Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force of the Southern District of New York is handling the case. Dalpour will appear in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Moses.