By Forum Staff
On Thursday, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, Francius Marganda was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment for running a $24.5 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded hundreds of predominantly Indonesian and Indo-American victim investors.
Marganda, 42, an Indonesian national who used to live in Queens, led the scheme until it unraveled in 2021 and he fled the United States. Marganda was extradited to the U.S. from Singapore in November 2023 and pleaded guilty to securities fraud in July 2024. As part of his sentence, Marganda was ordered to pay $8.5 million in restitution and $7.5 million in forfeiture.
From May 2019 to May 2021, while residing in Queens after overstaying his visa, Marganda orchestrated a scheme to defraud investors by soliciting investments in two sham programs called Easy Transfer and Global Transfer, which Marganda and his co-conspirators falsely represented were short-term, high-interest loan programs in which investors would earn passive income. Marganda and his co-conspirators promised rates of return as high as 200 percent or more. On a near-daily basis, multiple investors were deceived into signing investment contracts.
Marganda and his co-conspirators misappropriated the invested funds for their own benefit, including by buying real estate and luxury goods, and paying off credit card bills. They also laundered proceeds into their bank accounts. As an example, more than $3.8 million in scheme proceeds was transferred into just one of Marganda’s personal accounts over the course of 11 months, and more than $264,000 in proceeds in the account was used to pay off his credit card bills.
The Ponzi scheme ultimately collapsed in May 2021, when Marganda and his co-conspirators stopped making payments to investors. Marganda fled the country, obtained an Indonesian passport under a fake name, and used the scheme funds to pay for lavish stays in luxury hotels around the world, including in France, the Maldives, Nepal, and Thailand, until he was apprehended abroad and extradited to the Eastern District of New York.
To date, 237 victims, ranging in age from 24 to 84, have identified losses of more than $24.5 million because of the Marganda’s scheme. The victims reside in the District of Columbia and at least 31 states, including New York, as well as in Indonesia and Malaysia. Many of the victims had limited means and had pooled their resources with relatives and friends to make investments in U.S. dollars and Indonesian rupiah.
The Hon. Dora Irizarry considered statements prepared by dozens of victims in connection with the sentencing hearing held on Thursday. Many reported that, as a result of Marganda’s conduct, they declared bankruptcy or lost nearly all of their savings. Because of the financial loss, one victim struggled to pay for a family member’s chemotherapy, while another struggled to pay for medical expenses associated with a family member’s Stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis. One victim lacked the funds to travel and pay respects after both of the victim’s parents died.
“It is my hope that this prosecution will bring some measure of relief to the victims of Marganda’s fraud, who trusted him with their life savings because of their shared nationality and were cruelly exploited by him,” said Brooklyn U.S. Attorney John Durham.
