Ramil Palafox, CEO of PGI Global, is charged by the SEC for a $198 million Ponzi scheme involving misleading crypto transactions and unregistered membership packages. Funds were misused for personal luxury, deceiving investors with fake dashboards. The case marks a significant enforcement action under SEC Chair Paul Atkins.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Ramil Palafox, CEO of PGI Global, with orchestrating a substantial Ponzi scheme amounting to $198 million. This case involves the manipulation of investor funds through misleading marketing tactics, utilising false dashboards and circular crypto transactions to maintain an illusion of profitability, particularly via unregistered membership packages between 2020 and 2021.
Palafox is alleged to have promised investors returns as high as 200% through a fictitious AI-driven trading platform. Investigations revealed that the funds raised were misappropriated for personal indulgences, such as a $1.7 million property in Las Vegas, luxury cars, and exquisite jewellery.
The SEC’s allegations assert that PGI Global proactively deceived its investors by faking trading activity and manipulating user dashboards. Following a court ruling in the UK, PGI Global UK Ltd was ordered to cease operations in 2022 due to these deceptive practices.
This case represents a landmark action in the cryptocurrency enforcement sector under the leadership of new SEC Chair Paul Atkins. Alongside the SEC’s civil suit, a related criminal case has been initiated against Palafox, who now faces the prospect of a permanent ban on all cryptocurrency activities. The proceedings also name several of Palafox’s family members as beneficiaries of the assets associated with the scheme, further complicating the judicial process.
