ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The Chief Executive Officer of a multi-level marketing and bitcoin trading firm was sentenced today to 20 years in prison following his conviction on wire fraud and money laundering charges for operating a Ponzi scheme that defrauded over 90,000 investors worldwide.

According to court documents, Ramil Ventura Palafox, 61, a dual citizen of the United States and the Philippines, owned and operated Praetorian Group International (PGI) and served as PGI's Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and chief promoter. Palafox falsely claimed that PGI was engaged in bitcoin trading, and he promised daily returns of 0.5 to 3%. PGI was not trading bitcoin at a scale capable of making the promised returns, however, and Palafox was paying the investors back with their own money or with funds received from other investors.

From December 2019 to October 2021, at least 90,000 investors worldwide invested more than $201,000,000 in PGI, including at least $30,295,289 in fiat currency and at least 8,198 bitcoin worth $171,498,528. As a result of Palafox's actions, investors suffered losses totaling at least $62,692,007.

Palafox created a PGI website for investors to review their purported investment performance. From 2020 through 2021, Palafox caused the online portal to consistently and fraudulently misrepresent that victims' investments were gaining value, misleading them to believe that their investments were profitable and secure.

Palafox spent money on expenses that served both personal purposes and to promote the fraudulent scheme. He spent approximately $3 million on 20 luxury vehicles, including automobiles by Porsche, Lamborghini, McClaren, Ferrari, BMW, Bentley, and others. Palafox spent approximately $329,000 on penthouse suites at a luxury hotel chain and purchased four homes in Las Vegas and Los Angeles worth more than $6 million. Palafox spent another $3 million of investors' money to buy clothing, watches, jewelry, and home furnishings at luxury retailers, including Louboutin, Neiman Marcus, Gucci, Versace, Ferragamo, Valentino, Cartier, Rolex, and Hermes, among others. He transferred at least $800,000 in fiat currency, plus an additional 100 bitcoin, then valued at approximately $3.3 million, to one of his family members.

The FBI Washington Field Office and the IRS Criminal Investigation Washington D.C. Field Office investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jack Morgan and Annie Zanobini and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Zoe Bedell prosecuted the case.

Victims of PGI may be entitled to restitution payments. Information about how to submit a restitution claim can be found here.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District CourtLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACERLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. by searching for Case No. 1:25-cr-5.