In a nutshell
- PGI International CEO is accused by the SEC of running a$ 198 million crypto Ponzi scheme.
- Unlicensed securities were sold to investors as fake AI trading packages.
- SEC’s initial crypto behavior is the result of this event, according to new Chair Paul Atkins.
PGI International CEO Ramil Palafox was charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday for allegedly running a$ 98 million crypto-based Ponzi scheme five years ago. He is accused of defrauding investors with false claims of AI-driven investing and guaranteed returns.  ,
More than$ 57 million in fiat and bitcoin were allegedly squandered for Palafox’s personal use and to benefit his close associates, according to a statement from the SEC.
The SEC’s second crypto-related enforcement actions is the one brought by new Chair Paul Atkins, who was sworn in just a moment before, in the case against Palafox, which was filed in the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
According to the SEC’s problem, Palafox ran PGI Global, little for Praetorian Group International, as a top for unregulated assets selling cloaked in crypto market words.
Through a ostensibly AI-driven blockchain and forex trading platform, Palafox promoted “membership plans” that reportedly guaranteed returns of up to 200 % between January 2020 and October 2021.
The crypto trading company, which was officially known as PGI Global UK Ltd, was ordered to close down by the UK High Court in September 2022 as a result of their operation of a defraudulent investment program.
Between July 2020 and February 2021, PGI Global collected approximately £612, 425 ( US$ 815, 000 ) from investors.
Investors were unable to remove their funds when the guaranteed results failed to materialize, though.
The analysis was no co-ordinated by Palafox, which is based in the United States. Following a subpoena issued by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Treasury seize the bank’s website.
According to the court filing, “PGI Global never had an” Car Trading” system and only traded on behalf of its customers.”
Investor funds were allegedly used to maintain Palafox ‘ lavish lifestyle, which includes a$ 1.7 million home in Las Vegas, multiple Lamborghinis, and$ 1.4 million in Cartier jewelry, instead of a Ponzi-like system of payouts.  ,
The problem details how Palafox allegedly fabricated blockchain transactions by manipulating dashboards to fake returns and keep investors hooked up.
His misleading claims about crypto industry experience and a sworn AI-powered auto-trading platform were merely refuted by an intercontinental securities fraud, according to LauraD’Allaird, the SEC’s Cyber Unit’s chief.
Palafox is also alleged to have transferred property in anticipation of the program’s decline by the SEC.  ,
The complaint names four comfort defendants, including Palafox’s spouse, family, and brother-in-law, and asks for the transfer of funds and assets, including a$ 320,000 loan return, a Range Rover, and luxury goods from Louis Vuitton and Hermès.
Palafox has been indicted in a related criminal case out of Virginia, along with legal fines and the whole disgorgement of funds, as well as a permanent ban on his involvement in crypto or MLM-related stocks products.
edited by Sebastian Sinclair
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