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SEC charges Pacific Private Money Group operators in Ponzi-like scheme
Prosecutors said the scheme raised $103M from more than 175 investors from 2021 onward, and the funds later estimated recoverable assets at under $17M despite nearly $121M in outstanding investments.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California have charged Mark Hanf and Hoai-Nam Chu Phan, two California men accused of running a Ponzi-like investment scheme through Pacific Private Money Group LLC, leaving investors facing large losses. The SEC said the pair operated two private funds that, prosecutors allege, used new investor capital to satisfy redemption requests.
According to the filings, fundraising began in 2013 and continued until the scheme unraveled, culminating in the funds filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection during 2025. The SEC said that despite almost $121 million in total outstanding investments across the two funds, an estimate as of February 2026 put total recoverable assets at less than $17 million.
The agencies allege the operators misrepresented the funds’ liquidity and status to investors, including many retired seniors, while continuing to raise capital even after they believed investments were likely to default. The U.S. attorney’s complaint also says the funds’ largest developer died in 2021, and Hanf and Phan learned that its loans were nonperforming, with many backed by distressed assets unlikely to cover the debt.
Prosecutors further allege that by the end of 2021, Hanf and Phan were shifting money between accounts to cover redemptions and then began cycling new investor capital to earlier investors seeking to cash out. The SEC case states Hanf agreed to refrain from participating in the securities industry without admitting wrongdoing, and the arrangements still require a judge’s approval, while he was also accused of misappropriating more than $7M for personal use, including to service debt, fund a boxing match, and invest in a cryptocurrency venture.