A federal choose simply handed down a critical sentence in considered one of crypto’s larger fraud circumstances. Ramil Palafox, CEO of Praetorian Group Worldwide, was sentenced to twenty years in jail for operating a $200 million crypto scheme that collapsed on 1000’s of buyers.
Greater than 90,000 folks all over the world have been pulled in with guarantees of returns that merely didn’t exist. The operation unraveled, and the losses stacked up quick.
Chief U.S. District Decide Leonie M. Brinkema delivered the sentence after Palafox pleaded responsible to wire fraud and cash laundering in late 2025. It marks one other high-profile reminder that regulators should not easing up on large-scale crypto fraud.
Palafox claimed PGI had a classy buying and selling algorithm that would generate as much as 3% each day returns. Sounds spectacular. Besides there was no actual buying and selling taking place in any respect.
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Ramil Ventura Palafox, CEO of Praetorian Group Worldwide, was sentenced to twenty years in jail on Thursday for working a $200 million bitcoin Ponzi scheme that defrauded greater than 90,000 buyers worldwide.
This man goes extraordinarily viral. https://t.co/DnMVHrVuWm pic.twitter.com/vogrQt1W9Y
— Bowlsey (@BowlseySOL) February 13, 2026
Behind the scenes, it was the standard playbook. A cultured web site. Faux dashboards. Numbers shifting on a display screen to make all the pieces look reputable. Even cautious buyers have been fooled as a result of it felt skilled.
For this reason these schemes work. Fraudsters lean on technical jargon and sophisticated explanations to overwhelm freshmen. If a suggestion guarantees regular, excessive returns with little threat, that’s your first purple flag. Taking a second to confirm, analysis, and double-check earlier than sending funds could be the distinction between defending your capital and dropping it.
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How The Scheme Unraveled
In response to the Division of Justice, the entire thing collapsed as soon as Palafox ran out of latest buyers to pay the outdated ones. The stream of cash was finally traced straight to his private spending, just like what we noticed in different high-profile crypto fraud circumstances.
As an alternative of producing returns by Bitcoin buying and selling, he was funneling funds into luxurious actual property in California and Las Vegas. Court docket filings present roughly $3 million went towards high-end automobiles like Lamborghinis and Ferraris, with hundreds of thousands extra spent on luxurious gadgets.
A well-known crypto CEO simply acquired 8 years in jail for the most important crypto fraud since FTX.
He stole $200 MILLION from buyers whereas claiming their cash was secure.
Then purchased McLarens and mansions whereas the token crashed to zero.
Meet Braden John Karony, the previous CEO of… pic.twitter.com/fvyL5Ph6KR
— Insider Trackers (@InsiderTrackers) February 13, 2026
The message from the sentencing is obvious. Authorities are following the cash and constructing stronger circumstances. Whereas some crypto headlines contain bodily violence, white collar fraud is drawing critical jail time as properly.
Investigators additionally revealed that Palafox moved 100 BTC to relations in an effort to defend belongings, however that path didn’t keep hidden for lengthy.
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