Fnalysis.
Escape With Notice
The mastermind of a $165 million crypto Ponzi scheme skipped his own son's wedding because he knew the FBI would be waiting there
Edward Zimbardi, from Georgia (U.S.), signed up more than 6,000 investors for "The Crypto Program," which promised a guaranteed 25% monthly return for buying "advertising packages" paid in crypto into wallets he secretly controlled. He raised more than $165 million, lost $34 million of it on high-risk foreign-currency trades, and used new investors' money to pay off earlier ones — the classic Ponzi pattern.
After learning in July 2025 that the FBI was investigating him, he fled to Fiji, where he hid for over a year. In May he canceled his plans to attend his son's wedding in Virginia because he correctly suspected agents would be waiting for him there. He was deported from Fiji on August 14, 2026, and now faces 25 federal charges for wire fraud and money laundering.
Source: CBS News Atlanta →He'd rather miss the wedding than miss bail.