The U.S. Department of Justice announced that Ramil Ventura Palafox, CEO of Praetorian Group International (PGI), has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for operating a Bitcoin-related Ponzi scheme. According to prosecutors, Palafox falsely promoted PGI as a legitimate Bitcoin trading platform combined with a multi-level marketing model, promising daily returns of up to 3%.
Between 2019 and 2021, over 90,000 investors worldwide invested more than $200 million in PGI. In reality, the payments to investors were funded either by the victims’ own money or by new participants. The estimated losses exceeded $62 million. Court records show that Palafox created an online portal displaying fake profits and spent millions of dollars on luxury cars, real estate, designer goods, while also transferring money and Bitcoin to relatives.
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