A major crypto fraud case ends in prison, exposing false “guaranteed returns” and growing global enforcement cooperation.
Ramil Ventura Palafox, founder of Praetorian Group International (PGI), has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for running a $200 million Bitcoin investment scheme that defrauded over 90,000 investors worldwide between 2019 and 2021.
U.S. prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia convicted the dual U.S.–Philippine citizen on wire fraud and money laundering charges. Authorities found PGI promised consistent daily returns from large-scale crypto trading but instead used new investor funds to pay earlier participants — a classic Ponzi structure.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, investors lost at least $62.6 million. Funds were spent on luxury homes, cars, jewelry, and family transfers. In 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed parallel civil charges, citing false claims about AI-driven trading and guaranteed profits. The case highlights intensifying cross-border crypto enforcement and rising scrutiny of high-yield digital asset schemes.
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