Ramil Ventura Palafox, CEO of Praetorian Group International (PGI), has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme, on charges including wire fraud and money laundering. The scheme defrauded more than 90,000 investors worldwide, resulting in losses of at least $62.692 million. Court documents show that between December 2019 and October 2021, PGI raised over $201 million from investors under the guise of Bitcoin trading, promising daily returns of 0.5% to 3%. This included at least $30.295 million in fiat currency and 8,198 bitcoins (worth $171 million at the time). Palafox used millions of dollars of the investment funds to purchase luxury cars, real estate, and other luxury goods.