Ramil Ventura Palafox gets 20 years sentence over $200 million bitcoin Ponzi scheme

Ramil Ventura Palafox, the 61-year-old CEO of Praetorian Group International (PGI), was sentenced to 20 years in a U.S. prison for running a massive global Ponzi scheme involving bitcoin and foreign exchange trading. Palafox defrauded over 90,000 investors between late 2019 and 2021, collecting more than $201 million, including over 8,000 BTC. Instead of investing the funds as promised with purported daily returns of up to 3%, prosecutors stated Palafox used new investor money to pay off earlier investors while secretly siphoning millions for personal luxury purchases, such as Lamborghinis and high-end real estate. He maintained the illusion of success through a fabricated online portal tracking fake profits. The case was investigated by the FBI and IRS, and the SEC is pursuing civil penalties; victims may be eligible for restitution.

(Source：CoinDesk)