A Calgary man is facing fraud and money laundering charges after an RCMP investigation into an alleged $164 million Ponzi scheme that police say involved more than 1,000 investors.Craig Michael Thompson, 49, was arrested July 31 following an investigation by the RCMP Federal Policing Northwest Region’s Integrated Market Enforcement Team (IMET) in Calgary.Police allege Thompson misappropriated more than $164 million in investor funds through his company, Black Box Management Corp., between March 2020 and April 2024.According to RCMP, Thompson presented himself as operating a one-man investment firm and accepted money from investors on the understanding it would be used for day trading.Investors received weekly emails that purported to provide updates on the performance and growth of their accounts.Investigators allege those updates were not what they appeared to be.“Following a complex and thorough investigation, investigators determined the information presented in these email updates were plagiarized from various online sources,” RCMP said.Police said their investigation traced more than $164 million flowing into Black Box and allege Thompson transferred more than $163 million to external accounts.Those transfers allegedly included money sent to Thompson's personal trading account and funds placed in a U.S.-based company.Investigators also linked Thompson to several other invoice factoring and investment-related businesses, including Intelsense Investment Corp., Invader Management Ltd. and Attebyte Investment Corp.Thompson has been charged with two counts of fraud under the Criminal Code and one count of laundering proceeds of crime.Thompson is scheduled to appear in Alberta Court of Justice in Calgary on Sept. 3.The investigation involved assistance from the Alberta RCMP's Chestermere and Cochrane detachments, Alberta Securities Commission, Forensic Accounting Management Group, Public Prosecution Service of Canada, Southern Alberta Regional Victim Serving Society and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
