UK High Court shutters crypto firm PGI Global for alleged scam involvement

Popular cryptocurrency trading firm PGI Global UK has been closed down by a high court in the United Kingdom, according to a press release issued by U.K. authorities, 

The court issued the directive following the firm’s alleged involvement in a crypto scam. 

PGI allegedly promised investors 200% returns on their investments

As disclosed, the U.K.-based firm had, between July 2020 to February 2021, collected around £612,000, equivalent to $710,000, from its potential investors. It promised these investors that they would receive about 200% returns from their investments in the company. When PGI failed to fulfill its promise, it prevented its investors from withdrawing their funds.

Investigations revealed three accounts operated by the firm used to collect the funds. With this, it was realized that PGI had allegedly siphoned about £200,000 by paying no less than £195,000 to personal accounts and £10,000 to a luxury department store.

The Court claims that Ramil Ventura Palafox, the company’s sole director, failed to cooperate with investigations into the allegations.

Further, Insolvency Service Chief Investigator Mark George explains that limited liability protections require businesses and individuals to comply with the Companies Act.

“This case highlights that where we have reasonable concerns about the trading practices of a company, the court will take a dim view of any failure to co-operate with a statutory enquiry and will wind up the company in the public interest,” George maintained.

PGI Global UK is a subsidiary of the Praetorian Group International Trading, based in the US. The US  Department of Justice has shut down the company after securing a seizure warrant from the U.S District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia.

According to a report by Chainalysis, cryptocurrency-based crime reached an all-time high in 2021, with illicit addresses receiving $14 billion, up from $7.8 billion in 2020. In contrast, another report from Intelligent CIO has found that illegal cryptocurrency volumes have fallen 15% year over year in 2022 due to a decrease in crypto-criminal activity.