A University of Miami business-school graduate used university facilities to execute a Ponzi scheme in which he scammed investors out of an estimated $30-million, according to CNN.

The FBI is investigating, and the Miami-Dade County police say Andres Pimstein, who is 48, has confessed to the scheme. Some investors were lured by promises of 18-percent returns on their investments in a business supposedly selling perfume and electronics to a South American department-store chain.

Some University of Miami employees, including a former director of contract administration, invested with the fake company, CNN reported. One investor, who estimates he lost $2-million, told CNN that investor meetings took place in university conference rooms. “Pimstein was able to convince a couple people there to use their computers to control the bank accounts that he laundered the money through,” a private investigator hired by one investor told CNN.

That investor is suing Mr. Pimstein and his company, alleging that the deal was a classic Ponzi scheme, in which investors get paid from the principal of investors who come along after them.

“University funds are not involved,” a University of Miami spokeswoman told CNN. “The university will cooperate fully with the investigation.” —Kate Moser