A Calgary man who ran a $150-million Ponzi scheme has been convicted of securities fraud and ordered to pay $8.8 million in penalties and costs by the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC).

Craig Michael Thompson, 47, and his two companies, Black Box Management Corp. and Invader Management Ltd., defrauded 1,000 Canadian and American investors between 2020 and 2023, when the scam collapsed.

Thompson has no post-secondary education and no experience in finance, investments, or trading, the ASC noted in its 31-page decision, calling the fraud "among the largest Ponzi schemes in Alberta."

One investor, identified in the ASC's sanction decision as TF, lost more than $25 million, his entire life savings and inheritance.

Permanently banned from trading

The commission also found that Thompson m

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