Goliath Ventures Accused of $397M Crypto Ponzi Scheme as CEO Faces Sentencing

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a lawsuit against Goliath Ventures and its CEO, Christopher Delgado, for allegedly operating a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that amassed nearly $397 million from around 1,611 customers.

The CFTC claims that the company assured clients their crypto would be placed into liquidity pools with decentralized exchanges to generate fees, which would then be distributed to investors. However, no customer funds ever entered these pools.

Instead, the regulator alleges that $87 million was used to pay off existing customers, while $174 million went towards directors and employees in the form of commissions for securing new customers. At least $48 million of this amount was siphoned off by Delgado personally.

The CFTC also claims that Goliath sent false audit reports to reassure customers, stating that they maintained an average balance of at least 115% of partner funds at all times. However, neither statement was true, and account statements were manipulated to show profits not generated.