If you invested in Praetorian Group International (PGI Global) between 2019 and 2021 and suffered losses, federal authorities have confirmed the company operated a large scale crypto Ponzi scheme. Victims may qualify for restitution through official government channels.
This guide explains the SEC lawsuit, DOJ conviction, confirmed losses, and what PGI investors should do next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Praetorian Group International, commonly branded as PGI Global, marketed itself as a cryptocurrency and foreign exchange trading company promising daily returns of 0.5% to 3% through bitcoin arbitrage and automated trading strategies.
The company operated primarily from December 2019 to October 2021.
Federal investigations later concluded that PGI was not conducting legitimate trading at the scale required to generate those returns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On April 22, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil enforcement action against: In a parallel criminal case, the U.S. Department of Justice charged Palafox with wire fraud and money laundering. According to court documents:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Authorities determined PGI:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Court filings revealed investor funds were used for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Analysts have drawn structural comparisons between PGI and the collapse of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n One former investor described the experience: If you invested in PGI Global between 2019 and 2021<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The FBI has requested victims complete official restitution forms and victim impact statements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Restitution payments depend on asset recovery and court administration processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sentencing of Ramil Ventura Palafox represents one of the largest SEC and DOJ crypto enforcement actions in recent years. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 90,000 Investors Affected: Are You Eligible for Restitution? If you invested in Praetorian Group International (PGI Global) between 2019 and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":246,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[19,25,23],"class_list":["post-285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-forex-scams","tag-ponzi-scheme","tag-scam-prevention"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/equityrecourse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/equityrecourse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/equityrecourse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equityrecourse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equityrecourse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/equityrecourse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":286,"href":"https:\/\/equityrecourse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285\/revisions\/286"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equityrecourse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/equityrecourse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equityrecourse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equityrecourse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Ramil Ventura Palafox<\/strong>
The SEC alleged:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
The SEC sought permanent injunctions, civil penalties, disgorgement of profits, and bans preventing future involvement in crypto related securities offerings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nDOJ Criminal Case & 20 Year Prison Sentence (February 2026)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
He pled guilty on September 16, 2025.
On February 12, 2026, he was sentenced to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n20 Years in Federal Prison<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
Investigations were conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and IRS Criminal Investigation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nHow the PGI Crypto Ponzi Scheme Worked<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
When new deposits slowed in 2021, the scheme collapsed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nLuxury Spending Funded by Investors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
The online PGI portal consistently misrepresented profits until the platform went offline.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nParallels With Other Crypto Fraud Cases<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
Both cases involved:<\/li>\n\n\n\n
While different in operational structure, both highlight risks within unregulated crypto investment schemes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nReal Investor Experience<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe PGI dashboard showed daily gains, and everything looked consistent. I believed the system was trading successfully. When withdrawals slowed and eventually stopped, I realized the profits were just numbers on a screen.\u201d
This aligns with federal findings that the portal displayed fabricated performance data.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPGI Restitution: What Victims Should Do<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Step 1: Preserve Documentation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
Step 2: Submit Victim Information<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Step 3: Monitor Case Updates<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Final Takeaway: Lessons From the PGI Crypto Fraud<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
With:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
The PGI case serves as a cautionary example of how Ponzi structures can operate within the crypto ecosystem.
Investors should always:<\/li>\n\n\n\n