SEC Charges San Francisco Bay Area Private Fund Executives with Multimillion Dollar Ponzi-Like Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Mark D. Hanf, the former CEO of Novato, California-based Pacific Private Money Group LLC (PPMG), and Hoai-Nam Chu Phan, the former COO of a PPMG subsidiary, with orchestrating an offering fraud that…
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against Mark D. Hanf, the former CEO of San Francisco Bay Area-based Pacific Private Money Group LLC (PPMG), and Hoai-Nam Chu Phan, the former COO of one of PPMG's subsidiaries, for orchestrating a multimillion-dollar offering fraud. The SEC alleges that from December 2021 to November 2025, Hanf and Phan misrepresented to investors in two of PPMG's private funds that the capital would be used to originate or purchase real estate loans and that investors would receive preferred or fixed return rates.
However, the SEC claims that the executives instead used new investor funds to make Ponzi-like payments to earlier investors, with the returns largely stemming from new capital rather than any fund earnings connected to their real estate lending business. Additionally, the SEC alleges that Hanf misappropriated over $7 million of investor funds for personal gain.
According to Jason Lee, Associate Director of the SEC's San Francisco Regional Office, the fraud unraveled in the fall of 2025 when investors began demanding withdrawals, for which the defendants had insufficient funds. Despite having almost $121 million in total outstanding investments in the two funds, only less than $17 million was recoverable by February 2026, resulting in devastating losses for numerous investors.
Hanf and Phan have each consented to a permanent injunction barring them from violating the charged provisions of the federal securities laws and from participating in the issuance, purchase, offer, or sale of any security, except for personal transactions. They also agreed to order determining any disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil money penalties against Hanf, as well as civil penalties against Phan, at a later date upon motion by the Commission.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California has also announced criminal charges against both individuals.
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