Home / Crime and Justice / Ponzi Scheme Kingpin Gets 10 Years
Ponzi Scheme Kingpin Gets 10 Years
11 May
Summary
- Christopher Knight Lopez received 120 months for a $17 million Ponzi scheme.
- Over 40 victims, including seniors, lost retirement and college funds.
- Lopez and his brother used forged documents and false claims to defraud investors.
Christopher Knight Lopez received a 120-month sentence in federal prison on May 11, 2026, for his participation in a Ponzi scheme that resulted in over $17 million in losses. Lopez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud on February 19, 2026. Judge Keith Ellison also mandated three years of supervised release following his incarceration.
The fraudulent operation, which ran from May 2015 to January 2025, involved more than 40 victims. These included senior citizens who lost their retirement savings and families who had invested college funds. The scheme also impacted local and international businesses.
Lopez and his brother, Jayson Lopez, managed several investment firms, including Knight Nguyen Investments and Aevum Holdings Inc. They allegedly used forged bank letters and fabricated account statements to deceive investors about the companies' financial standing. Furthermore, they falsely claimed access to $2 billion in U.S. Treasury bonds.
Victims were told they could finance businesses if they paid large advance fees, but the loans were never issued. The brothers misappropriated client funds for personal use and employed a classic Ponzi structure, using money from later investors to pay purported returns to earlier victims. Jayson Lopez and another associate, Nadir Abdel Torres, have also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
