Federal authorities are planning to seize six Central Florida residences owned by Christopher Delgado, who they claim bought luxury homes and cars with money he siphoned from unsuspecting investors through a Ponzi scheme.
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The homes targeted in a civil forfeiture filing, which the U.S. Attorney trumpeted in a press release on Friday, include a glitzy $8.5 million Isleworth mansion that Delgado purchased last summer and where he has been living since prosecutors charged him in February with wire fraud and money laundering.
That 11,000-square-foot property was described in a real estate listing as a “grand estate” providing “a lifestyle of unmatched elegance and comfort.”
Delgado, 34, was the president and CEO of Goliath Ventures, the company at the center of the alleged Ponzi scheme. Prosecutors allege Delgado used other people’s money to live a high life — traveling in private jets, driving Lamborghinis and buying flashy watches and jewelry and high-end homes.
Delgado and his lead attorney, Sean Shecter of Fort Lauderdale, did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Orlando Sentinel about the forfeiture filing.
In addition to the Isleworth mansion, authorities are trying to seize five other Central Florida homes, including two others with a purchase price of $1 million or more and a property on Orange Avenue in downtown Orlando.
The filing also lists 11 vehicles, including a 2025 Lamborghini Revuelto with a purchase price of more than $700,000 and a 2023 Rolls Royce Cullinan bought for more than $470,000.
Delgado used personal referrals, marketing materials, luxury events, charitable sponsorships, and some monthly payments of purported returns to lure more than 1,000 investors to give at least $400 million to him, prosecutors say.
Goliath said it would place the investors’ funds in cryptocurrency liquidity pools, but the funds were primarily used to pay returns to earlier investors, to return money to investors who requested it and for Goliath’s extravagant business gatherings, holiday parties, and travel, according to the criminal complaint against him.
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The scheme ran for about three years, starting around January 2023.
Since turning himself in and posting a $1 million bond in February, Delgado has been placed on home confinement at the Isleworth address and can’t leave except for approved situations including religious services, medical appointments and court hearings.
For the past three months, federal authorities have been moving to seize assets traceable to the fraud scheme. In March, a judge froze some assets but declined to require Delgado to hand them over, in part because they are tied up in the war-wracked Mideast. Goliath had an office in Dubai.
The assets listed in this week’s filing are a subset of those assets that are expensive to maintain and depreciating in value, secured by liens or subject to property taxes that are continuing to accrue interest and may be in default, according to the press release from the U.S. Attorney.
In order to recover as much money from the scheme as possible, prosecutors have determined that these assets must be seized as quickly as possible. One of the primary goals of this process is to compensate victims when federal law allows, the press release said.
Delgado also made a number of charitable donations, according to records and interviews. He gave $350 to sponsor a team in the Apopka Little League, for example, more than $50,000 to help send the band and cheerleading squad at Apopka High School to London’s 2026 New Year’s Day parade and $250,000 to a drug-abuse prevention initiative.
These types of donations are a common tactic for fraudsters to build up the trust of their investors, experts told the Sentinel.
Goliath is now in bankruptcy, and the attorney appointed by a judge to oversee its finances is trying to recover assets, including those given to charities, to help pay back the company’s victims.
The criminal investigation of the fraud scheme is ongoing and investigators are also working to locate and seize additional property held by Delgado or others that was purchased with proceeds of Goliath fraud. People with information about the scheme or property that was purchased with money collected through fraud can contact [email protected].
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