SEC and Federal Prosecutors Charge Man with $200M Crypto Fraud Scheme

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and federal prosecutors have charged Ramil Palafox, a dual U.S.-Philippines citizen, with orchestrating a $200 million crypto fraud scheme through PGI Global, impacting approximately 90,000 investors. The allegations highlight ongoing regulatory efforts to combat fraudulent activities in the crypto space.

April 23, 2025 – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and federal prosecutors announced charges against Ramil Palafox, a dual citizen of the U.S. and the Philippines, on April 22, 2025, for allegedly running a $200 million crypto fraud scheme through his company, PGI Global, according to Cointelegraph. The scheme, which operated between January 2020 and October 2021, is accused of defrauding around 90,000 investors, with Palafox misappropriating over $57 million in investor funds through a Ponzi-like operation.

Authorities allege that Palafox lured investors with false promises of daily returns ranging from 0.5% to 3%, claiming expertise in Bitcoin trading and an AI-driven automated trading platform that never existed. According to the SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, PGI Global conducted “little to no trading” on behalf of investors. Instead, Palafox used new investor funds to pay returns to earlier investors, a hallmark of a Ponzi scheme, while funneling money to finance a lavish lifestyle, including a $1.7 million Las Vegas home, multiple Lamborghinis, and $1.18 million in Cartier jewelry, as detailed in a Cointelegraph report.

This case follows a pattern of recent enforcement actions against crypto frauds. In January 2024, federal prosecutors charged German businessman Horst Jicha with a $150 million crypto scam through USI Tech, using a similar multilevel marketing scheme, as reported by CNBC (web:1). The recurring nature of such frauds has heightened calls for regulatory clarity, especially as the crypto market grows, with Chainalysis estimating global crypto scam losses at $5.2 billion in 2024 alone.

As the SEC and federal prosecutors pursue justice for the 90,000 affected investors, this case serves as a stark reminder of the risks in the crypto space and the importance of robust oversight to protect investors while fostering legitimate innovation.