Diamond Ponzi King Jose Angel Aman Hit With $25M Fraud Charge

MIAMI — Federal prosecutors have nailed diamond Ponzi kingpin Jose Angel Aman for a $25 million scam that fleeced investors across the nation. The 51-year-old D.C. native is accused of wire fraud after allegedly operating a fraudulent diamond investment scheme.

Ariana Fajardo Orshan, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, FBI Miami Field Office Agent in Charge, led the charge against Aman.

The charges claim Aman and his cohorts lured people into investing in diamond contracts between May 2014 and May 2019. They promised investors that their money would be used to buy rough diamonds, which Aman would cut, polish, and resell for a profit. The investors were falsely reassured that their funds were safe, thanks to Aman’s $25 million diamond inventory.

But the truth was a different story. It is alleged that Aman rarely used investor money for diamond purchases. He never cut, polished, or sold diamonds, and he didn’t own $25 million worth of gems. Instead, he paid out interest with new investors’ cash to pay off older ones, using a classic Ponzi scheme tactic.

When the scam was on the brink of collapse, Aman reportedly set up Argyle Coin, LLC, to dupe more investors into believing in cryptocurrency backed by diamonds. He promised high returns and zero risk, but it turned out that he only used a fraction of the cash for his cryptocurrency token and mostly funneled it to pay off earlier investors and himself.

Over $25 million was collected from hundreds of victims, who were told they had full value in their investments if they rolled over. Aman and his partners provided sham ‘Reinvestment Contracts’ as a smoke screen. By the time authorities caught on, Aman was living large off his fraudulent enterprise’s proceeds.

Aman has made his first court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart in West Palm Beach. The FBI’s West Palm Beach office and the Florida Office of Financial Regulation helped with the investigation. AUSA Adrienne Rabinowitz is the lead prosecutor.