Ramil Ventura Palafox
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anchored·2qF84V…kaPLSummary
Ramil Ventura Palafox, a dual U.S.-Philippine citizen and founder of Praetorian Group International (PGI), was sentenced on February 12, 2026 to 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud and money laundering for operating a Bitcoin Ponzi scheme that received over $201 million from more than 90,000 investors worldwide between December 2019 and October 2021. On April 6, 2026, he removed his GPS monitoring device and failed to report to prison, becoming a federal fugitive; the FBI placed him on its Most Wanted list, and he was arrested approximately 12 days later in Los Angeles, California, where he remains in federal custody.
Connected Entities
1 entities- + 4 more
Timeline(14 events)
1 December 2019
PGI Global begins soliciting investors with promises of 0.5-3% daily Bitcoin trading returns.
IRS Criminal Investigation / DOJ Eastern District of Virginia18 November 2016
Philippine Bureau of Immigration detains Palafox at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, alleging he was acting as a courier for a human trafficking syndicate. Disposition of those allegations is not established in available records.
BehindMLM (citing Philippine Bureau of Immigration report)28 June 2021
PGI Global's domain is suspended; website goes offline approximately 48 hours later.
BehindMLM1 September 2021
Securities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines issues public warning against PGI Global, stating the company lacks the necessary license.
BehindMLM1 October 2021
PGI Global scheme activity ends (end of the charged period: December 2019 to October 2021).
IRS Criminal Investigation / DOJ1 January 2022
UK High Court orders the winding-up of PGI Global UK Ltd. and appoints official receiver as liquidator.
Protos / PYMNTS13 March 2025
Sealed grand jury indictment filed against Palafox in the Eastern District of Virginia.
BehindMLM: Ramil Ventura Palafox arrested in California9 April 2025
FBI arrests Palafox in California. He is released on a $50,000 appearance bond with GPS monitoring conditions.
BehindMLM: Ramil Ventura Palafox arrested in California22 April 2025
SEC files civil complaint in the Eastern District of Virginia alleging $198 million fraud and misappropriation of over $57 million in investor funds.
SEC Litigation Release LR-2629516 September 2025
Palafox pleads guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of concealment money laundering in Alexandria, Virginia.
IRS Criminal Investigation / DOJ12 February 2026
Federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia sentences Palafox to 20 years in prison and orders $62,692,007 in restitution.
IRS Criminal Investigation / DOJ Eastern District of Virginia6 April 2026
Palafox removes his GPS monitoring device and fails to report to the Bureau of Prisons. A federal arrest warrant is issued by the Eastern District of Virginia. FBI Most Wanted warrant activated.
FBI Most Wanted (X/Twitter) / MLex18 April 2026
Palafox is arrested in Los Angeles, California, approximately 12 days after becoming a fugitive. He is placed in federal custody to begin serving his sentence.
FBI Most Wanted official accountsDecision Log
- hash: 5525PVEGeuMbdWTBo8bz5twZbPr9da8z6ZeMsTQCUMnH
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (1 event). 20 of 23 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 9/2/2026, 5:31:10 PM
last updated: 9/2/2026, 7:50:30 PM
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