SEC v. Ramil Ventura Palafox, BBMR Threshold LLC, Darvie Mendoza, et al. — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Litigation Release No. 26295, dated April 29, 2025.
The SEC charged Ramil Palafox, founder of PGI Global, for orchestrating a $198 million crypto and foreign exchange fraud scheme. He allegedly misappropriated over $57 million for personal luxury purchases and used investor funds to pay other investors, operating a Ponzi-like scheme until its collapse.
In Plain English
Imagine someone promising to make your money grow really fast by trading digital coins and foreign money. They claimed to be experts and offered 'membership packages' with guaranteed high returns. But instead of trading, this person took most of the money to buy fancy cars and luxury goods for themselves. They also used new investors' money to pay off earlier investors, like a house of cards that eventually fell down.
Disclaimer: all facts are drawn from the SEC's own filings; the claims described are allegations unless and until a court rules or the parties settle, and some cases end in dismissal.
How the Alleged Scheme Worked
- The Pitch: High Returns from Crypto and Forex From January 2020 to October 2021, Ramil Palafox, through his company PGI Global, claimed to be a crypto asset and foreign exchange trading firm. He offered 'membership' packages to investors worldwide, promising high, guaranteed returns from these supposed trading operations.
- The Hook: Multi-Level Marketing Incentives To encourage more investment, PGI Global offered members referral incentives, similar to a multi-level marketing system. This motivated existing investors to recruit new ones, expanding the scheme's reach.
- Raising Millions Based on these promises, Palafox secured over $198 million in investments, primarily in Bitcoin and fiat currency, from victims who believed their money would generate substantial low-risk returns.
- Misappropriation for Luxury Instead of trading, Palafox allegedly misappropriated more than $57 million of investor funds. He used this money for personal enrichment, including purchasing Lamborghinis, real estate, and items from luxury retailers like Cartier, Versace, and Louis Vuitton.
- Transferring Assets Palafox also transferred funds, assets, vehicles, and other items purchased with investor money to relief defendants, including BBMR Threshold LLC, Darvie Mendoza, Marissa Mendoza Palafox, and Linda Ventura.
- The Ponzi Payments The majority of the remaining investor funds were used to pay other investors. These payments were presented as profits and rewards from trading, but in reality, they were funds from new investors being circulated to older ones.
- Scheme Collapse This Ponzi-like structure continued until its collapse in late 2021, when the scheme could no longer sustain the promised payments and the fraud was exposed.
- Unregistered Securities PGI Global never filed a registration statement for its membership packages, meaning these securities were offered and sold to investors worldwide without proper regulatory oversight.
The Enforcement Action
The SEC charged Ramil Palafox with violating anti-fraud and registration provisions of federal securities laws. The complaint seeks permanent injunctive relief, conduct-based injunctions, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. Relief defendants BBMR Threshold LLC, Darvie Mendoza, Marissa Mendoza Palafox, and Linda Ventura are also named, with disgorgement and prejudgment interest sought from them. In a parallel action, Palafox was arraigned on criminal charges.
Named in this action: Ramil Ventura Palafox, BBMR Threshold LLC, Darvie Mendoza, Marissa Mendoza Palafox, Linda Ventura.