The alleged architect of a Ponzi scheme that bilked some Metro Detroit investors out of around $100 million has been on the run since 2023 and the FBI is now seeking new tips that might bring him to justice.
Darren Anthony Robinson, 56, whose alleged victims include many investors from southeast Michigan, has been added to the FBI’s Most Wanted Fraudsters list, the FBI Detroit Field Office announced on Thursday.
“Behind the alleged losses are real people, including retirees, families, and individuals who entrusted their savings to what they believed were legitimate investment opportunities,” Jennifer Runyan, special agent in charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office, said in a press release.
Authorities haven’t seen or heard from Robinson since November 2023, when he is believed to have removed his GPS tether while in Atlanta after the court permitted him to fly there to meet with his lawyer.
During a prior hearing in June 2023, Robinson was released on bond in Detroit with several stipulations, including wearing the GPS tether. Retired U.S. Magistrate Judge R. Steven Whalen, who granted Robinson pretrial release, didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment.
In the initial 2023 complaint, Robinson was charged with a single count of wire fraud. The following year, he was indicted on 11 counts of wire fraud, plus one count of money laundering.
Cumulatively, the charges against him are punishable by more than 200 years in prison.
How the scheme worked
Authorities said that starting around 2010, Robinson ran QYU, which purported to be a “boutique professional trading firm which specialize[d] in the commodities and foreign exchange markets.”
In actuality, the business was a massive Ponzi scheme doing business out of Panama and the Cayman Islands, the FBI said.
Authorities said Robinson would lure investors by promising wildly high returns. For example, the company told investors that a $100,000 investment in 2014 would grow to more than $2 million by 2021, court records show.
Investors from Metro Detroit accounted for a sizable portion of QYU’s victims, collectively investing tens of millions of dollars, with one victim giving Robinson more than $1 million, federal prosecutors allege. Other victims resided elsewhere in the U.S., as well as Canada and several other countries.
Prosecutors said QYU would take money from new investors and use some of it to pay off prior investors. The rest was used to manage QYU and fund Robinson’s lifestyle, including $800,000 he used to buy property in the United Arab Emirates.
Reward offered
The FBI has offered up to $150,000 in reward money for information leading to Robinson’s arrest and conviction.
“Robinson’s addition to the Most Wanted Fraudsters list expands awareness of this case and reinforces that our efforts to locate him have not stopped. If you know where Darren Anthony Robinson is, we want to hear from you,” Runyan said.
Robinson is described as 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds with a bald or shaved head and brown eyes.
In addition to his connections to the United Arab Emirates and Panama, he is known to have ties to Colombia, officials said.
Anyone with information about his whereabouts is aksed to call the FBI’s tipline at 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.
mreinhart@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: FBI seeks tips to find $100M Ponzi schemer who skipped bond in 2023
Reporting by Max Reinhart, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Max Reinhart, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
