Bitcoin Ponzi King Gets 20 Years for $200M Fraud
Praetorian Group CEO sentenced to two decades in prison after scamming over 90,000 victims in massive crypto scheme.
Ramil Ventura Palafox, CEO of Praetorian Group International, just earned himself a 20-year prison sentence. His crime? Running a $200 million bitcoin Ponzi scheme that ripped off more than 90,000 people.
A U.S. court handed down the sentence after Palafox was found guilty of orchestrating the massive fraud through his company. The scheme followed the classic Ponzi playbook — promise big crypto returns, use new investor money to pay earlier ones, and pocket the difference.
The scale here is staggering. Over 90,000 victims. $200 million in losses. That's the kind of damage that makes regulators sharpen their knives.
Two decades behind bars sends a clear message: crypto fraud still carries real-world consequences. The blockchain might be decentralized, but federal prison definitely is not.