DETROIT (WWJ) – An American man accused of running a Ponzi scheme out of Panama and the Cayman Islands is facing charges after being brought in front of a federal judge in Detroit this week.
Darren Anthony Robinson, 53, the operator of a “supposed foreign exchange trading firm,” was charged Monday with running a Ponzi scheme that obtained an estimated $100 million from investors, U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison announced.
"Dozens" of investors from Southeast Michigan invested tens of millions of dollars into the supposed trading firm known as QYU Holdings, according to the complaint.
According to the complaint unsealed Monday, QYU “represented to investors that it was consistently generating stellar investment results.”
For example, in one QYU document, the firm claimed that a $100,000 investment into its fund in 2014 would have grown to over $2 million by 2021 and that same fund didn’t have a single losing month during that period, according to Ison’s office.
QYU investors were “promised guaranteed returns” and told the firm was “only paid on trading profits, not investor principal,” officials said.
But the complaint alleges that QYU was “simply a Ponzi scheme.” Investor funds were largely not used for trading activity, but instead, new investor funds were allegedly used to pay other investor distributions, cover QYU business expenses, compensate QYU employees, and fund Robinson’s lifestyle.
QYU investors were provided with false account statements and fictitious trading data, Ison’s office said
Authorities say they have identified “many apparent QYU investors” from the Metro Detroit area. Officials are encouraging any potential victims to contact the FBI at www.fbi.gov/QYU_holdings_victims.
One victim told federal investigators he had invested more than $1 million in principal with QYU since 2019, while “many” other victims had invested in the last five years.
If convicted, Robinson faces up to 20 years in prison on the charge of wire fraud.
The full criminal complaint can be read here.
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