The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against Ramil Palafox, CEO of PGI Global, alleging he led a $198 million international fraud scheme tied to false claims in cryptocurrency and forex trading. The SEC’s complaint accuses Palafox of misappropriating over $57 million of investor funds for personal use, including the purchase of luxury vehicles, high-end watches, and designer merchandise.
The SEC states that PGI Global advertised itself as a digital asset and foreign exchange trading company from January 2020 to October 2021. It sold “membership” packages that promised substantial returns and employed a multi-level marketing structure to recruit new investors.
The SEC asserts that while investors were led to believe their funds were being used in sophisticated trading operations, Palafox instead diverted a significant portion for lavish personal expenditures.
“Palafox used the guise of innovation to lure investors into lining his pockets with millions of dollars while leaving many victims empty-handed. In reality, his false claims of crypto industry expertise and a supposed AI-powered auto-trading platform were just masking an international securities fraud.”
Laura D’Allaird, chief of the Commission’s new cyber and emerging technologies unit
The civil complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, financial penalties, and disgorgement of ill-gotten gains. Palafox is also facing separate criminal charges from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the same jurisdiction.
