A Calgary man is accused of stealing from more than 1,000 people in an alleged $164-million Ponzi scheme over the course of four years.
RCMP say a 49-year-old man was arrested on July 31 and charged with two counts of fraud and money laundering for alleged activities involving his company, Black Box Management.
Police say between March 2020 and April 2024 while he was representing himself as a one-man investment firm, the accused allegedly received funds from Black Box investors on the understanding that he would use the money for day trading.
Investors would then allegedly receive fabricated updates about the performance and growth of their respective accounts.
RCMP said investigators determined the information presented in these email updates were plagiarized from various online sources.
It’s alleged he transferred almost all of the money — about $163 million — to external accounts, which included his own personal trading account and an investment in a company based in the United States.
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The investigation also revealed the accused was linked to several other invoice factoring and investment-related businesses: Intelsense Investment Corp., Invader Management Ltd., and Attebyte Investment Corp.
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The criminal charges come a year after the Alberta Securities Commission said it sanctioned Thompson, along with two companies he controlled, Black Box Management Corp. and Invader Management Ltd., for securities misconduct, including fraud.
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An August 2025 news release from the commission said the accused used a relatively small portion of investor funds for day trading but he was unsuccessful and, over time, generated a cumulative net loss of nearly US$15 million.
“The vast majority of investor funds, however, were misappropriated and used to pay other investors their purported returns. Investors were shielded from knowing about the true use of their funds because Thompson emailed weekly statements to each investor that always showed positive performance and growing account balances. In reality, Thompson made the numbers up. Investors received statements showing significant returns, when, in fact, their balance was effectively zero,” the commission stated.
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The ASC called the case a classic Ponzi scheme, “dressed up as a modern trading success story.”
Craig Michael Thompson, 49, is scheduled to appear in court Thursday in Calgary.
RCMP said anyone who believes they are a victim of fraud related directly to this investigation is asked to email [email protected].
–with files from The Canadian Press