US SEC charges PGI Global founder with $198 million crypto and forex fraud

Odaily News The US SEC accused PGI Global founder Ramil Palafox of planning a fraud, raising approximately $198 million from global investors and misappropriating more than $57 million.
The SEC said that PGI Global claimed to be a crypto and foreign exchange trading company, and Palafox sold "membership" packages from early 2020 to October 2021, promising high returns and setting up a pyramid scheme-like referral reward mechanism to encourage people to join. Palafox used investor funds to purchase luxury goods and personal consumption, and the remaining funds were used to pay returns to early investors in the form of a Ponzi scheme until the scam was exposed at the end of 2021.
The SEC has filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District of Virginia alleging violations of federal securities laws and seeking injunctions, disgorgement, and civil penalties. The lawsuit also names BBMR Threshold LLC and several individuals as relief defendants.