JPMorgan is facing a class action lawsuit accusing the US financial giant of ignoring glaring structural red flags and facilitating illicit fund flows. As the primary banker for Goliath Ventures, its Chase unit allegedly enabled a $328mn Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 2,000 retail and institutional investors.
JPMorgan Faces Class Action Suit over Ponzi Crypto Fraud Scheme
13 March 2026 - 08:00 CET
The suit, filed on 10 Mar in the California Northern District Court, cited the role of the bank in enabling and aiding & abetting the digital asset investment fraud operated through its corporate customer. The complaint states that Chase served as the sole banking partner for Goliath from January 2023 through June 2025.
Executive arrests and wire fraud
Christopher Delgado, the president and chief executive of Goliath, previously known as Gen-Z Venture Firm, was arrested in February and formally charged with wire fraud and money laundering. According to a 24 Feb statement from the US Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida, Delgado is accused of operating Goliath as a massive Ponzi scheme from January 2023 through January 2026.
The lawsuit accuses the largest bank in the US of deliberately ignoring internal compliance alerts regarding suspicious, large-scale transfers to the chief executive. Delgado reportedly diverted these corporate funds for personal luxury expenditures, including the purchase of four residential properties valued between $1.15mn and $8.5mn each.
Ignoring obvious structural red flags
The complaint alleges that approximately $253mn was deposited directly into the Chase account, amounting to nearly two-thirds of the total $328mn collected from Goliath investors. Coinbase is also referenced in the court filing as a strategic partner that maintained the Goliath digital wallets. Approximately $123mn was transferred from the Chase bank account into these wallets from January 2023 through June 2025.
Chase processed investor deposits, facilitated transfers among related entities and enabled the redistribution of investor funds in a manner that created the false appearance of legitimate profits, the complaint states, adding that the fraudulent nature of the operation was obvious.
Among the fraudulent promises made to investors were guaranteed monthly returns ranging from 3% to 8%, marketed as low-risk passive income generated through blockchain infrastructure. If convicted on all counts detailed in the Justice Department statement, Delgado faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison.
