CEO who bought Ferrari, Versace, luxury homes pleads guilty to $200M Bitcoin scam

Core Viewpoint - Ramil Palafox, CEO of Praetorian Group International (PGI), pled guilty to wire fraud and money laundering, operating a Ponzi scheme that defrauded over 90,000 investors, resulting in significant financial losses [1][4]. Group 1: Company Operations - PGI claimed to conduct Bitcoin trading and promised daily returns of 0.5%-3%, which were unsustainable given the firm's modest operations [2]. - The firm misled investors through a fraudulent website that falsely indicated their investments were growing during 2020-21 [3]. Group 2: Financial Impact - More than $201 million was invested in PGI from December 2019 to October 2021, with investors losing at least $62.6 million due to the scam [4]. - Palafox misappropriated funds for personal luxury expenditures, including approximately $3 million on luxury vehicles and over $6 million on homes [6]. Group 3: Legal Consequences - Palafox faces a potential sentence of up to 40 years in prison and is required to pay restitution of $62.6 million as part of his plea agreement [8].