Central Florida Ponzi schemer Chris Delgado pleads guilty to fraud

Disgraced Orlando businessman Christopher Delgado pleaded guilty Tuesday to running a massive cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme and using his investors’ money to live a lifestyle of luxury homes, high-end cars and flashy jewelry.

Delgado, 34, of Apopka, admitted to a federal judge in Orlando that as CEO of Goliath Ventures he knowingly defrauded at least 1,000 investors out of at least $250 million. He pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit fraud as part of a deal with prosecutors.

Dressed in a dark suit, Delgado told the judge he was guilty of the charges described in his deal but otherwise did not speak. After the hearing, he hurriedly left the courthouse in downtown Orlando and got into a waiting car, declining to talk with reporters who were gathered outside.

He faces up to 50 years in prison and will remain on a comfortable home confinement at his $8.5 million Isleworth mansion, bought with his investors’ funds, until his sentencing, which is scheduled for Oct. 8. He has been confined to the home - one of several high-end homes he must eventually forfeit - since his February arrest.

Justin Eplin, who said he was a Goliath investor who lost $100,000 - an amount supposed to be his 10-year-old daughter’s college fund - attended the court hearing and loudly called after Delgado as the former CEO drove away.

“You better run home, coward,” Eplin shouted. “Had to sneak out…like a snake. No surprise.”

While the plea deal requires Delgado to pay full restitution to his victims, Eplin doubts that he and other investors can get their money back. Prosecutors say they have heard from around 1,600 potential victims total and are still working to identify and verify all of them.

As part of his deal, Delgado must forfeit the $250 million he stole and many of the luxury items he bought with his investors’ money. An 11-page list details those items, including including eight Orlando-area properties, 11 luxury vehicles, 30 watches, 29 pieces of jewelry and cufflinks, 57 wallets and bags, sports memorabilia and a collection of wine and spirits.

Among those assets are the seven-bedroom Isleworth mansion, which sits on a golf course, two Lamborghinis and a diamond-encrusted ring displaying Goliath’s logo.

Prosecutors previously have alleged that investors’ money was also spent on Goliath’s extravagant events and parties.

The company's holiday party in December, for instance, was based on the James Bond movie, "Casino Royale," looked to be held at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach and featured a shirtless performance by multiplatinum recording artist Jason Derulo, according to social media posts by party guests.

Delgado also was a prolific donor to charities and other groups, giving more than $50,000 to help send the band and cheerleading squad at Apopka High School to London's 2026 New Year's Day parade and $250,000 to a drug-abuse prevention initiative. That last donation seemingly earned him an invitation to the White House. These types of donations are a common tactic for fraudsters to build up the trust of their investors, experts told the Orlando Sentinel.

Delgado’s attorney, Sean Shecter, made a brief statement outside the courthouse after his client left. He said the Ponzi scheme involved Delgado and others, and that his client was the only one who “stood up and took responsibility.”

Several unnamed co-conspirators are mentioned in Delgado’s plea deal filed in federal court. Shecter said while those co-conspirators may try to distance themselves from Goliath, “they cannot run from the facts.” Delgado must assist prosecutors in the investigation and prosecution of others if called to do so, his deal says.

“Mr. Delgado did not run, he did not hide,” Shecter said. “He hopes all the victims receive clarity, justice and closure.”

Delgado was the founder of the firm, which was based in downtown Orlando and operated from January 2023 to January 2026. Delgado and his co-conspirators portrayed Goliath as a "joint-venture cryptocurrency investment enterprise," according to his plea agreement.

Investors believed money they transferred to Goliath's accounts would be converted into cryptocurrency and escalate in value. Instead, over three years, many of them lost a lot of money.

The majority of investors' money sat as cash in Goliath's bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets. The scheme's leaders used the money for personal enrichment, paying for luxury items, travel and events, and to lure other investors by projecting an image of success, according to the deal.

Delgado and his unnamed co-conspirators concealed the scheme from investors by providing them with fabricated financial statements, offering false explanations for delayed payments and allowing some investors to collect more money than they had initially invested - by paying them with the funds raised from other investors.

But it all began to collapse in late 2025, when more investors began to ask for their money, and Goliath gave excuses as to why it couldn’t provide it, according to one investor. Delgado was arrested a few months later. He initially pleaded not guilty then agreed to a plea deal on June 22.

Goliath is now in bankruptcy, and Michael Budwick, the Miami attorney appointed by a judge to oversee its finances, is trying to recover assets, including those the company gave to charities, to help pay back the company's victims.

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This story was originally published June 30, 2026 at 2:29 PM.