DETROIT – FBI Detroit announced it has added Darren Anthony Robinson, 56, to the bureau’s “Most Wanted Fraudsters” list Thursday and is offering a reward of up to $150,000 for any information that leads to his arrest and conviction.
According to the feds, Robinson is wanted for his alleged involvement in an international investment fraud and money laundering scheme connected to QYU Holdings, which court records describe as a supposed “professional investment company that represented it was trading in the foreign currency exchange market.”
A federal arrest warrant was issued for Robinson on January 11, 2024, in Detroit after he was charged with 11 counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. The FBI said Robinson admitted to agents that claims he made to investors were false, but five months later, cut off his tether and fled the country. Court records indicate that QYU obtained an estimated $100 million from investors.
‘Dozens of victims in Michigan’
“Behind those numbers -- those very, very large numbers -- are real people,” Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit field office, said. “Retirees, moms and dads trying to pay for college, business owners.”
“Financial fraud of this magnitude has ruined countless lives,” said Robert Kuczynski, Acting Special Agent in Charge with IRS Criminal Investigations, Detroit Field Office. “Not only did [Robinson] allegedly commit these egregious crimes of greed, but he failed to be accountable for any of his actions by becoming a fugitive on the run.”
Runyan said Robinson’s addition to the list comes as the FBI hopes to locate fugitives accused of large-scale financial crimes and white-collar schemes, adding that the program is “separate and distinct” from the FBI’s most wanted top 10 list.
Runyan said the FBI has “dozens of victims in Michigan,” and said the case landed in Detroit because their “initial tip leading on to his Ponzi scheme” came into the Detroit field office.
Background on the investigation
In a federal indictment issued in January 2024, prosecutors said QYU Holdings and related entities claimed to operate as “a professional investment company trading foreign currency,” and that QYU was based in the Republic of Panama and the Cayman Islands.
The indictment alleges Robinson was the founder and principal operator of QYU and that, “contrary to the representations” he made and caused others to make, outside investor funds “were not used for profit-generating foreign currency trading.” Instead, the indictment alleges investor funds were “used to personally enrich Robinson and his associates, pay back other QYU investors, and sustain the operations of QYU.”
In a criminal complaint from June 2023, an FBI Special Agent said they began investigating Robinson and QYU Holdings in 2022. Investigators said QYU materials portrayed the company as a “‘boutique professional trading firm which specialize[d] in the commodities and foreign exchange markets’” and that the materials claimed extremely high returns. One example said that “a $100,000 investment” in 2014 “would have grown to over $2 million by 2021,” and that the fund “did not have a single ‘net’ losing monthly return” during that time.
‘QYU’s ‘edge’’
According to the FBI, QYU’s marketing materials said its “strength in trading, or QYU’s ‘edge’, is built on our exceptional understanding and analysis of the nuances of the US economy” and that their “expert skill in dealing with financial markets.”
Records from 2015 to 2022 allegedly showed hundreds of wire transfer deposits from apparent investors, totaling more than $70 million into QYU accounts, and that transfer notes included phrases such as “QYU Investment,” “FOREX Acct Setup,” “Currency Investment,” and “Foreign Exchange Trading.”
Federal agents said they identified dozens of apparent QYU investors from southeast Michigan who “collectively, appear to have invested tens of millions of dollars into QYU.”
A preliminary review of bank records also allegedly showed activity “consistent with a Ponzi-scheme,” including that “newer deposits from QYU investors were the primary source of funds to make payments to other QYU investors,” and that there was “no apparent” activity reflecting significant deposits to or withdrawals from trading accounts.
What the feds say Robinson admitted
The 2023 complaint said Robinson sat for a voluntary interview on June 20, 2023, and that he “admitted” key claims made to investors were untrue.
“Robinson admitted that the above representations to QYU’s investors, which he acknowledged he caused to be made, were false,” the feds said.
It also said Robinson admitted he created “fictitious FOREX trading data” and caused QYU to provide account statements to investors that “were materially false.”
“Robinson admitted that the vast majority of the $100 million that was raised from QYU investors was not used for trading activity, even though the investors had been told that their money would be used for trading,” the FBI said. “Instead, investor funds were used to pay distributions to other investors, pay QYU’s business expenses, compensate QYU’s client managers and employees, and fund Robinson’s lifestyle.”
The complaint further said that Robinson’s statements to law enforcement confirmed what QYU’s bank records appeared to indicate: “QYU is a massive Ponzi scheme.”
The FBI’s plea to the public
Runyan said Robinson has been on the run since November 2023, cutting off his GPS tether and fleeing the country. They believe Robinson has spent time in Florida, Atlanta, California, Central and South America, Europe, Asia, Panama, the United Arab Emirates, and Colombia.
Robinson faces up to 20 years in prison on each charge of wire fraud and up to 10 years in prison for money laundering.
“Someone knows where he is. Someone may have seen him. Someone may engaged with him, not even realize that he’s wanted by the FBI,” Runyan said. “If you believe you’ve seen Robinson, don’t try and apprehend him yourself. Please contact law enforcement and help trained personnel encounter and address him.”
The FBI is asking anyone with information to call 1-800-CALL-FBI, or you can submit a tip online here. You can remain anonymous.
Potential victims may also submit information through the FBI’s victim questionnaire here.