JPMorgan is facing a lawsuit alleging it enabled a $328 million crypto Ponzi scheme run by Goliath Ventures.
Investors filed a class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Tuesday, accusing JPMorgan of ignoring suspicious transactions and allowing Goliath to use its infrastructure to raise investor money.
The lawsuit notes that despite JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s repeated criticism of Bitcoin (BTC), the bank allegedly failed to prevent crypto fraudsters from making fraudulent transactions.
“Chase, by virtue of Know Your Customer, actually knew that Goliath was operating as a ‘private equity’ cryptocurrency pool operator investing money for investors without a license to sell those investments,” the complaint states.
The complaint focuses on JPMorgan’s account flows
The US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced the arrest of Goliath CEO Christopher Delgado on February 24. If convicted on all counts, he faces a maximum of 30 years in federal prison.
Goliath Ventures, formerly known as Gen-Z Venture Firm, ran the scheme from January 2023 to January 2026, prosecutors said.
The suit alleges that JPMorgan was Goliath’s sole banking institution from January 2023 until May or June 2025. “Goliath raised at least $328 million from what is believed to be more than 2,000 investors,” the complaint states.
The complaint also describes money deposited from JPMorgan’s account into Goliath’s Coinbase wallets.
It claims that between January 2023 and June 2025, about $253 million was deposited into the bank’s 0305 account, about two-thirds of the $328 million offered by investors. Of this total, approximately $123 million was transferred to Goliath wallets maintained by Coinbase.
A Bank of America account is also named in the US complaint
A separate criminal complaint filed by the U.S. government said Goliath also had business accounts at Bank of America.
The Feb. 20 complaint states, “Delgado signed on to Goliath on account BOA 9136, adding that Goliath directors told at least one investor that Delgado controlled the account.
The complaint detailed that funds sent by investors were primarily deposited into JPMorgan account 0305 or BOA account 9136 or transferred directly to Goliath wallets on Coinbase.
The government said Delgado was the sole signatory to Coinbase’s Goliath wallets.
More complaints are coming in as the team is still identifying victims
The complaint was filed by a team of attorneys from Shaw Lewenz, Sonn Law Group and Schwartzbaum. The first plaintiff named, Robbie Alan Steele, said he invested a total of $650,000, including pension funds.
related to: Former CFO sentenced to two years for $35 million crypto fraud scheme
Shaw Levens’ Jordan Shaw said more complaints will come as the team is still identifying the individuals and organizations they have partnered with.
“We’re being targeted and specific about who we go against to complement the receiver and his efforts,” Shaw said, adding, “The goal is not to duplicate efforts, but instead to maximize recovery.”
Magazine: Would Bitcoin Really Be $200K If Not For Jane Street? Trade secret
