ORLANDO, Fla. – A 34-year-old man charged earlier this year with defrauding investors out of at least $250 million pleaded guilty Tuesday to running a “Ponzi scheme.”
Christopher Alexander Delgado, of Apopka, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, admitting that as the head of Goliath Ventures, he paid purported returns to existing investors from funds contributed by new investors.
“Delgado provided fraudulent information to solicit investor funds and then spent his ill-gotten gains on his extravagant lifestyle,” United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe said in a statement after the hearing. “Our office remains committed to working with our law enforcement partners to investigate and disrupt fraud schemes and prosecute fraudsters who steal investors’ hard-earned savings. We will also continue to work with investigators to locate and seize assets traceable to Delgado’s scheme.”
Delgado faces up to 50 years in prison. The plea agreement stipulates that he pay full restitution to the victims and that he forfeit assets that include eight properties and dozens of items of jewelry.
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In addition to reporters, victims packed the courtroom.
Prosecutors said in court that they have heard from as many as 1,600 victims. They added that they expect to identify more in the future.
One of those victims sent a statement to News 6 under the condition that he remain anonymous.
“As victims, we stood in solidarity in person at the courthouse to represent all those who lost, are grieving, and will never be the same after the actions taken by the defendant & his co-conspirators,” the victim’s statement read, in part.
After the hearing, Delgado remained quiet and stoic as he walked to a car waiting to whisk him away. He will remain confined to one of his homes until sentencing in October.
Addressing reporters outside the federal courthouse, defense attorney Sean Shecter said his client had taken responsibility for his actions.
“We believe there are other culpable individuals in this case,” Shecter said. “But today only one person started the process of righting that wrong and that was Mr. Delgado.”
Delgado has thus far been the only person charged in connection with Goliath Ventures, though his plea agreement does acknowledge the involvement of “co-conspirators.”
“Delgado and his co-conspirators did not invest the funds in cryptocurrency liquidity pools as promised,” the agreement reads. “They used the money to pay for luxury travel, events, vehicles, and other goods for their personal enrichment and to lure in additional investors through a projected image of success.”
Shecter would not divulge any names of the other people he claimed were culpable.
“There are people in this community, including some who are holding themselves out as pillars of the community that profited from Goliath Ventures,” Shecter said.