Overview
- Palafox pleaded guilty in September 2025 to wire fraud and money laundering before receiving the 20-year federal sentence on Thursday.
- The operation ran from December 2019 to October 2021 and promised daily returns of 0.5% to 3% without conducting genuine trading.
- Court records show PGI took in more than $201 million, including at least 8,198 BTC, with confirmed victim losses of at least $62.7 million.
- Prosecutors detailed spending that included about $3 million on 20 luxury cars, more than $6 million on four homes, $329,000 on penthouse stays, roughly $3 million on designer goods, and transfers of cash and 100 BTC to a family member.
- The FBI and IRS led the investigation, the SEC is pursuing civil penalties, and authorities say restitution and asset-tracing efforts remain underway.