Calgary man charged in $164 million Ponzi scheme

Craig Michael Thompson, 49, has been arrested and charged in connection with a large-scale Ponzi scheme that allegedly defrauded more than 1,000 investors of over $164 million.

According to the RCMP, the fraud occurred between March 2020 and April 2024. Thompson allegedly used his company, Black Box Management Corp, to collect funds under the premise of day trading. Instead, police claim he transferred more than $163 million to external accounts, including his personal trading account and an investment in a U.S.-based company.

Investigators state that Thompson provided investors with weekly email updates regarding account performance, but these updates were allegedly plagiarized from various online sources. Thompson is also linked to several other businesses, including Intelsense Investment Corp., Invader Management Ltd., and Attebyte Investment Corp. The investigation involved cooperation between the RCMP, the Alberta Securities Commission, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.