$80M RAISED FROM 190 INVESTORS, NOW AN SEC FRAUD CASE

🚨 $80 million raised from roughly 190 investors. By February 2026 the funds owed almost $121 million and held less than $17 million in recoverable assets.

InvestmentNews reports the SEC accused two California fund managers on September 1 of running an "Ponzi-like" scheme through two real estate loan funds. Both agreed to settle the same day.

The complaint, filed in federal court in the Northern District of California, says the pair raised the money between at least December 2021 and about November 2025. Many investors were retired or senior citizens.

Mark Hanf founded Pacific Private Money Group and served as chief executive. Nam Phan ran day-to-day operations as chief operating officer. The Pacific Private Money Fund I took in about $7.3 million from more than 60 investors. The Pacific Freedom Fund raised about $76.5 million from around 130.

The SEC alleges both funds ran at a loss for most of that period, and that new investor money covered what it calls "Ponzi-like payments" to earlier investors.

📉 The complaint says Hanf misappropriated at least $7 million, spending it on real estate holdings, the purse of a boxing match, a crypto venture and his own household bills.

The pitch stayed upbeat. In a 2024 webinar Hanf told investors the fund delivered "reliable above-market returns regardless of market cycle." Phan told one investor they were "currently earning 8% annualized," per the filing.

The SEC says the managers kept a running list of unpaid redemption requests and paid out first to those most likely to complain. Payments stopped in October 2025. The entities filed Chapter 11 on June 16, 2026.

Both consented to judgment and agreed not to contest liability. No court has ruled on the SEC's claims and the proposed judgments have not been entered.

Would a promised fixed return on a private fund be enough to make you walk away?

#SEC #investing #realestate #fraud #causeanuproar