PARKLAND — A man previously convicted of running an $11 million Ponzi scheme in Washington state was arrested Tuesday morning after an hours-long standoff in a Parkland residence, federal officials say.
Volodimyr Pigida, 49, was placed on the FBI wanted list after failing to show up for his sentencing in the Ponzi scheme case in Seattle on Aug. 4, the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington wrote in a media release.
Earlier Tuesday morning, just before 9 a.m., FBI Miami told the public to avoid the 7200 block of Northwest 68th Drive in Parkland due to “court-ordered law enforcement activity” in a statement on X. In an update about 30 minutes later, the FBI said a suspect was in custody.
Pigida is a “Miami-area resident” who previously lived in Bellevue, Washington, according to the release. He and his wife, Marina Bondarenko, ran a company called “Trend Sound Promoter” that sold ad-promoting packages. People who bought a package were then paid to market the packages to other customers. Pigida and Bondarenko used the money generated from the sale of new packages to pay people who had bought older packages.
Over time, the company amassed over $22 million, while those purchasing the packages lost a total of over $11 million. Eventually, between 2013 and 2014, the purchasers became aware of what was going on and the money began to run out. Pigida and Bondarenko then spent over $3 million on four properties, a yacht, and “numerous cars,” according to a previous U.S. Attorney’s Office release.
In December 2022, a jury found Pigida guilty of 26 felony counts including conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud, and bankruptcy fraud. When he failed to show up for his sentencing in August, a warrant was issued for his arrest.
It remains unclear whether Pigida was living in Parkland or staying with someone. Spokespeople for the FBI did not immediately respond to questions about the stand-off. Emily Langlie, a spokesperson for the U.S Attorney’s Office, did not have that information, but said that he was in a residence.
Pigida will appear before the district court in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday, where prosecutors will ask that U.S Marshals extradite him to Washington.