Bay Area Real Estate CEO Charged in $103 Million Ponzi Scheme

Federal prosecutors have charged Mark Hanf, the CEO of San Francisco Bay Area-based Pacific Private Money Group (PPMG), with orchestrating a Ponzi scheme that defrauded over 190 investors out of $103 million. Many of the defrauded investors are senior citizens. Hanf, along with PPMG's Chief Operating Officer Nam Phan, was indicted on wire fraud charges in a criminal complaint filed on August 31 in the U.S. District Court of Northern California. Hanf faces an additional charge of money laundering. Both Hanf and Phan pleaded not guilty to the charges and were subsequently released on $250,000 bonds. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also initiated a separate civil enforcement action against Hanf and Phan, accusing them of violating securities laws and engaging in an offering fraud. According to officials, between December 2021 and December 2025, Hanf and Phan solicited funds from investors by presenting various real estate investment opportunities. They promised investors substantial returns, claiming the funds would be used to acquire real estate-backed loans. However, the Department of Justice (DOJ) complaint alleges that Hanf and Phan became aware early on that their investment projects were experiencing financial losses. This realization reportedly stemmed from the death of a partner developer, which revealed that his loans were underperforming and the projects securing these loans were in distress and unlikely to yield repayment. Despite this knowledge, the pair allegedly continued to solicit new investments. The complaint states that "By no later than December 2021, Hanf, Phan, and others were aware that PPMG was unable to cover expenses, investor distributions, and investor redemptions with loan origination, servicing, and related revenue." Evidence suggests that as early as 2021, Hanf and Phan began transferring funds between different Pacific Private Money Group investment funds. This practice was allegedly intended to create a false impression of liquidity. Furthermore, the scheme involved using capital from new investors to repay older investors, a hallmark of a Ponzi scheme. Instead of disclosing the deteriorating financial situation, prosecutors assert that Hanf and Phan perpetuated the deception by making false statements and fabricating documents to discourage investors from withdrawing their funds.