Christopher Delgado, who founded an Orlando-based company at the center of an alleged Ponzi scheme, intends to plead guilty to charges including wire fraud and money laundering, federal court records show. A plea agreement filed Tuesday states Delgado will plead guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years; wire fraud, which also carries a maximum sentence of 20 years; and money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.Should the agreement be accepted, each of the charges could also lead to a fine of no more than $250,000 — or alternatively, twice the gross gain caused by the offense or twice the gross loss caused by the offence, whichever is greater — according to the agreement, which further states Delgado “agrees to make full restitution to all victims of these offences” and “agrees that the overall loss to the victims was at least $250 million.” Delgado was arrested in March, accused of running what federal investigators called a massive, multi-million-dollar Ponzi scheme out of a downtown Orlando office tower. Federal agents alleged he orchestrated $328 million in investment fraud through his company, Goliath Ventures, also known as Gen-Z Ventures. Delgado would get people to invest large sums of money, promising them monthly returns from so-called “cryptocurrency liquidity pools,” while he was instead paying past investors with money from new investors, according to investigators. Earlier this month, a U.S. District Judge in Florida granted a motion that could help victims and creditors in the legal actions involving Goliath Ventures. The judge granted a debtor’s motion for a “coordination agreement” involving the bankruptcy and criminal cases, with a stated goal in the motion of reducing litigation costs that could “diminish the recovery of the victims and creditors of the alleged fraud.” Tuesday’s plea agreement states that with respect to certain offences, Delgado will be held to make restitution to any victim of them and, with respect to other offenses, may be ordered by the court to make further restitution to any victim or to the community. The U.S. Justice Department was under a June 26 deadline to file an indictment against Delgado, but Tuesday’s agreement states he will waive the right to be charged by way of indictment before a federal grand jury. >> This is a developing story and may be updated
ORLANDO, Fla. —
Christopher Delgado, who founded an Orlando-based company at the center of an alleged Ponzi scheme, intends to plead guilty to charges including wire fraud and money laundering, federal court records show.
A plea agreement filed Tuesday states Delgado will plead guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years; wire fraud, which also carries a maximum sentence of 20 years; and money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
Should the agreement be accepted, each of the charges could also lead to a fine of no more than $250,000 — or alternatively, twice the gross gain caused by the offense or twice the gross loss caused by the offence, whichever is greater — according to the agreement, which further states Delgado “agrees to make full restitution to all victims of these offences” and “agrees that the overall loss to the victims was at least $250 million.”
Delgado was arrested in March, accused of running what federal investigators called a massive, multi-million-dollar Ponzi scheme out of a downtown Orlando office tower. Federal agents alleged he orchestrated $328 million in investment fraud through his company, Goliath Ventures, also known as Gen-Z Ventures.
Delgado would get people to invest large sums of money, promising them monthly returns from so-called “cryptocurrency liquidity pools,” while he was instead paying past investors with money from new investors, according to investigators.
Earlier this month, a U.S. District Judge in Florida granted a motion that could help victims and creditors in the legal actions involving Goliath Ventures.
The judge granted a debtor’s motion for a “coordination agreement” involving the bankruptcy and criminal cases, with a stated goal in the motion of reducing litigation costs that could “diminish the recovery of the victims and creditors of the alleged fraud.”
Tuesday’s plea agreement states that with respect to certain offences, Delgado will be held to make restitution to any victim of them and, with respect to other offenses, may be ordered by the court to make further restitution to any victim or to the community.
The U.S. Justice Department was under a June 26 deadline to file an indictment against Delgado, but Tuesday’s agreement states he will waive the right to be charged by way of indictment before a federal grand jury.
>> This is a developing story and may be updated