A man from Flowery Branch, Georgia, has been deported from Fiji to face charges in his home state accusing him of defrauding more than 6,000 investors and causing more than $165m of losses in ⁠a cryptocurrency Ponzi ⁠scheme, the ​US attorney in Atlanta said on Monday.

Edward Zimbardi, 59, was indicted on 12 counts of ⁠wire fraud, 12 counts of money laundering and one count of money-laundering conspiracy.

Prosecutors said Zimbardi pitched The ⁠Crypto Program as a means to purchase online advertising packages, offering a guaranteed 25% ​monthly rate of return on ‌an initial $550 investment.

However, instead ‌of buying advertising packages, Zimbardi allegedly lost tens of millions of dollars betting ‌on foreign currency and…