Man charged with running $100M Ponzi scheme; FBI says many victims in Detroit area

The operator of a supposed professional trading firm has been charged with running a $100 million Ponzi scheme, according to federal prosecutors.

Many of the people Darren Robinson, 53, convinced to invest with the company, QYU, were from the Detroit area, according to a complaint filed Friday in federal court. One victim from eastern Michigan had invested more than $1 million since 2019. Collectively, several people from southeast Michigan invested tens of millions of dollars into QYU.

Federal agents began investigating QYU in 2022. The firm's marketing materials promised incredibly high returns for investors and said the firm was only paid on trading profits, not investor principal, but financial records showed hundreds of wire transfer deposits from apparent investors and no deposits to or withdrawals from trading accounts, Special Agent Paul Dunham wrote in the complaint.

QYU allegedly used money from new investors to pay older investors, according to the complaint. Investor money was also allegedly spent to pay for business expenses, compensate client managers and employees at QYU and to fund Robinson's lifestyle. One transfer indicated Robinson spent $800,000 on property in the United Arab Emirates.

Dunham said Robinson told investigators the representations he made to investors were false, and that he created fictional trading data and provided false account statements to investors.

"Robinson's statements to law enforcement confirmed what QYU's bank records appeared to indicate: QYU is a massive Ponzi scheme," Dunham wrote.

Robinson's firm operated out of Panama and the Cayman Islands, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Michigan. Victims of the Ponzi scheme were all around the world, largely concentrated in the U.S., Canada and several other countries, according to the complaint.

U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison called Robinson's scheme "brazen."

"This defendant allegedly orchestrated a large-scale, multimillion dollar Ponzi scheme with victims across the globe," said James Tarasca, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office. "Investment fraud can be crippling for its victims, and the FBI is committed to identifying and working with anyone impacted by this scheme."

Any potential victims who invested with QYU can contact the FBI at www.fbi.gov/QYU_holdings_victims. The FBI has identified many investors from southeast Michigan.

kberg@detroitnews.com