DANNY DE HEK
Scammers rely on silence. We make noise.
Welcome to the Avengers Anti-Fraud Alliance, led by Danny de Hek, a New Zealand investigative journalist whose work exposing scams, Ponzi schemes, MLMs and financial fraud has been featured by The New York Times, Bloomberg, The Guardian, ABC Australia, RNZ and others.
This podcast takes you inside real investigations.
We follow the money, identify the people behind fraudulent operations, examine corporate records, court documents, blockchain transactions, marketing material, leaked communications and digital evidence — then put what we find into the public record.
Some investigations begin with a victim contacting me. Others start with an anonymous tip, a suspicious Zoom meeting, a cryptocurrency wallet, a court filing, or an Avenger somewhere in the world saying: “Danny, you need to look at this.”
The Avengers Anti-Fraud Alliance brings together researchers, whistleblowers, victims and ordinary people who are tired of watching scammers operate without scrutiny.
Patreon helps fund that work and gives supporters a closer look behind the investigations — including updates, evidence, developing stories and material that doesn't always fit into a YouTube video.
I don't accept payment to remove investigations. I don't sell reputation management. And when someone I investigate disagrees with my reporting, I give them the opportunity to respond.
The objective is simple:
Investigate. Analyse. Expose. Protect.
If you're a victim, whistleblower or you've discovered something that deserves investigating, get in touch.
Scams thrive in darkness. The Avengers turn on the lights.
DANNY DE HEK
WHO GOT THE MONEY?
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
WHO GOT THE MONEY?
[Intro – Spoken, dark and restrained]
Four hundred and twenty-five million dollars.
More than thirteen hundred investors.
The SEC says it was a Ponzi scheme.
The CFTC traced three hundred and ninety-seven million.
And then they found another number.
One hundred and seventy-four million dollars...
Transferred to directors and staff.
So now there’s only one question:
Who got the money?
[Verse 1]
They called it Goliath, said the giant couldn't fall,
Crypto liquidity pools were gonna make it all.
Three percent monthly, thirty-six a year,
Guaranteed principal made the risk disappear.
The dashboards showed profits, the statements looked clean,
Private jets and supercars completed the dream.
Christmas at the Four Seasons, champagne in the air,
If everybody's getting paid, why would anybody care?
But behind every number was a question nobody knew,
Were those liquidity pools actually doing what they said they'd do?
Now the SEC says the answer is clear:
Not one investor dollar was invested there.
[Pre-Chorus]
The money came in,
The payments went out.
The lifestyle got bigger,
While nobody asked how.
[Chorus]
Who got the money?
Where did it go?
Four hundred and twenty-five million,
Now everybody wants to know.
Eighty-seven million paying customers,
Forty-eight million on the CEO,
One hundred and seventy-four million
To directors and staff —
So who got the money?
Follow it and we'll know.
[Verse 2]
They weren't selling fear, they were selling trust,
Friends brought friends because somebody must
Have checked the contracts, checked the trades,
Checked the wallets where the money was supposedly made.
Delgado called it Orlando's “cool kids club,”
The influential came around and everybody looked up.
Doctors and businessmen, connections and names,
Every successful face added fuel to the flames.
Directors recruited, commissions were paid,
While the appearance of prosperity grew every day.
But a commission doesn't prove somebody knew.
That's why the money trail matters now —
What did they know, and when did they know it too?
[Chorus]
Who got the money?
Where did it go?
Four hundred and twenty-five million,
Now everybody wants to know.
Eighty-seven million paying customers,
Forty-eight million on the CEO,
One hundred and seventy-four million
To directors and staff —
So who got the money?
Follow it and we'll know.
[Verse 3]
Then the machinery started running dry,
And suddenly there was another reason why.
Banking problems.
Delayed withdrawals.
A forensic audit was supposed to explain it all.
But the CFTC now alleges
That audit never existed at all.
By November twenty-five, according to the SEC,
New money couldn't arrive fast enough to feed
The obligations already waiting at the door.
The illusion couldn't finance itself anymore.
And while investors waited for answers to come,
The numbers underneath were finally coming undone.
[Bridge – Building]
September ninth — cease and desist.
“Legitimate company.”
“Not a Ponzi scheme.”
September twenty-second —
They filed the lawsuit.
They tried to silence the questions
Instead of answering them.
But lawyers can't change bank records.
Luxury can't manufacture profits.
A dashboard can't create liquidity.
And a lawsuit can't stop the money trail.
[Breakdown]
SEC says four hundred twenty-five million.
CFTC says three hundred ninety-seven million.
About eighty-seven million paid to customers.
About forty-eight million attributed to Delgado's personal spending.
And approximately...
ONE HUNDRED
AND SEVENTY-FOUR
MILLION DOLLARS
Transferred to directors and staff,
Often as commissions for recruiting customers.
Now tell me—
WHO GOT IT?
[Final Chorus – Huge]
Who got the money?
Where did it go?
Four hundred and twenty-five million,
And we're following every road.
Forget the Lamborghinis,
Forget the private show,
The biggest story isn't only
What Christopher Delgado stole.
Follow every payment,
Every commission, every name,
Because when the music stops
Someone has to explain—
Who got the money?
What did they know?
Who kept recruiting
While the whole thing started to fold?
Who got the money?
Who helped it grow?
One hundred and seventy-four million reasons
To keep following where it goes.
[Outro – Spoken]
Christopher Delgado pleaded guilty.
The SEC has filed.
The CFTC has filed.
The bankruptcy continues.
But there are still names.
There are still payments.
And there are still questions.
Who got the $174 million?
Follow the money.
The Avengers Anti-Fraud Alliance is a community supporting independent investigations into scams, Ponzi schemes, MLMs, crypto fraud and the people behind them.
Led by New Zealand investigative journalist Danny de Hek, the Avengers help uncover information, connect victims, analyse evidence and expose schemes that deserve public scrutiny.
We investigate. We expose. We protect.
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DANNY DE HEK
DANNY DE HEK