State regulators issued an emergency order and $1.5 million in penalties tied to the operation.
ATLANTA, GA — Georgia securities regulators say a metro Atlanta man who pitched sky-high cryptocurrency returns to investors around the world has disappeared overseas, even as the state moved to shut down what it calls a Ponzi-style scheme and impose $1.5 million in fines on him and related companies.
The emergency order bars Edward “Ed” Zimbardi from working as an investment adviser or selling securities in Georgia, according to investigators and a copy of the state action described by officials. The case has drawn scrutiny for years, with regulators in other jurisdictions also warning about the program. Georgia officials say they believe Zimbardi is still operating similar scams, while separate criminal investigations are underway and his current address is unknown.
Investigators say Zimbardi ran the operation from suburban Atlanta through a product he called the CryptoProgram, promoted online and through word of mouth. The pitch, investors and regulators said, was simple: put money in, watch returns flow in, then recruit others as the promised gains piled up. Some investors told investigators they saw payments at first and believed the program was working, then watched balances freeze or disappear. “What he was selling wasn’t real,” investor Nathan Whaley said in a previous interview, describing money that seemed to arrive and then vanish, adding that he believes the promoter is “still doing things to this day.”
The Georgia Secretary of State’s office said its emergency order was prompted by what it described as ongoing harm to investors and the risk that Zimbardi could keep raising money while out of reach. A spokesperson for the state securities division said the office has information that “leads us to believe that he’s still at it.” In the state’s written order, officials said that despite actions by multiple jurisdictions, Zimbardi continued to push financial scams. The state action is civil, but officials said they understand other agencies are working to track him down. Authorities said it appears he is on the run overseas and was last seen in the Netherlands, with his location now unknown.
Details about the investment pitch have been laid out in earlier legal filings and enforcement actions. Investors and regulators said the program touted a guaranteed 25% return per month, an extraordinary promise that experts often cite as a hallmark of fraud. Georgia regulators said the money did not go where investors were told it would go. The emergency order alleged that funds were diverted to an overseas crypto wallet tied to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, instead of being used for legitimate investing. The state also said Zimbardi used multiple companies connected to the program, and it assessed penalties against him and each of those entities to reach the total $1.5 million fine.
Regulators outside Georgia have also described the operation as a Ponzi-style setup. In a 2023 enforcement order, California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation said CryptoProgram offered and sold securities in the form of “Packages” and portrayed itself as an online advertising business that would generate returns. The California order said most investor money was used to pay other investors, the classic pattern of a Ponzi scheme, and that a significant share of remaining funds was diverted to trading accounts at an offshore forex broker based in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The agency also identified the promoter as Edward Anthony Zimbardi, a Georgia resident who it said held himself out as the “Master Affiliate” of the program.
As scrutiny grew, the story also picked up a legal trail in federal court. In July 2025, a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia accused Zimbardi of misleading investors through the “Crypto Program” and violating federal and Georgia law. The complaint described one investor in British Columbia, LeeAnn Harper, who said she invested more than $366,000 and ultimately lost more than $260,000. The lawsuit said investors were falsely promised guaranteed monthly returns and told their funds were safe and used exclusively for online advertising, while the true nature of the operation was concealed. The complaint also warned that Zimbardi could be preparing to flee the country, a claim that now echoes in Georgia’s statement that he appears to be out of the United States.
On the ground in metro Atlanta, investigators have repeatedly found little trace of the promoter beyond addresses tied to him and his family. In earlier reporting, the promoter was linked to a modest home in Flowery Branch, northeast of Atlanta. When a process server delivered the federal lawsuit, he was served at his mother’s home in a gated subdivision in Gwinnett County, the lawsuit and investigators said. Reporters later said they were turned away when they tried to approach the property. Zimbardi has not answered repeated requests for comment in the past, investigators said, though he did speak on a YouTube channel in which he denied being the person behind the investments and said he acted as a helper for others. “I enjoy helping people,” he said in that interview, adding that he likes helping them recover money when they lose it.
Regulators and investors say the case shows how quickly online investment pitches can spread across borders and jurisdictions, especially when early payments convince participants that an operation is real. California’s enforcement order noted that the program marketed “Packages” publicly and framed the strategy as safer than other crypto plays because it claimed not to trade at all, even while money was being routed to trading accounts overseas. In Georgia, the secretary of state’s office said it is using emergency powers to try to stop the operation immediately, while law enforcement agencies pursue criminal leads. For investors who say they lost money, the state action offers a public marker that the program has drawn formal allegations, even as the key figure remains out of reach.
As of Friday night, Georgia officials said the emergency order remained in effect, the penalties stood, and Zimbardi’s whereabouts were unknown. The next steps are expected to come through the ongoing criminal investigations and any additional civil actions, with state officials saying they believe other agencies are actively working to locate him.
Author note: Last updated February 28, 2026.