Key Takeaways
- • Mark Hanf (founder and CEO, age 66) and Nam Phan (COO, age 58) of Pacific Private Money charged with wire fraud conspiracy and orchestrating a multi-year offering fraud scheme spanning 2021 through December 2025.
- • Pacific Private Money raised $103 million from 175 investors across multiple funds before filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2026; executives made false statements about the fund's financial condition to induce continued investment.
- • SEC alleges Hanf misappropriated more than $7 million in investor funds for personal expenses including credit card payments and home mortgage obligations.
- • Defendants engaged in alleged Ponzi scheme mechanics: moving money between funds to keep them operational, using new investor capital to pay distributions and redemptions to earlier investors, and concealing known losses in major projects since at least 2021.
- • Both defendants face potential decades in prison if convicted; Phan scheduled for court appearance September 23, 2026; Hanf ordered to return September 30, 2026.
Summary
Two senior executives of Bay Area-based Pacific Private Money have been charged federally with orchestrating a multi-year fraud scheme that defrauded investors of over $100 million. Mark Hanf, 66, founder and CEO of Tiburon, and Nam Phan, 58, COO of Novato, made their initial court appearances in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Tuesday following charges of wire fraud conspiracy and securities offering fraud.
According to prosecutors and SEC allegations, Hanf and Phan engaged in a conspiracy beginning in 2021 to deceive Pacific Private Money investors by making false and misleading statements about the enterprise's financial condition. The fund raised $103 million from 175 investors between 2021 and December 2025. U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian characterized the scheme as a Ponzi operation, stating the defendants "falsely assured investors that Pacific Private Money was successful and profitable, knowing that continued losses had turned it into a Ponzi scheme."
The core fraudulent mechanics involved concealing material deterioration in fund performance. Prosecutors allege that Hanf and Phan knew as early as 2021 that numerous of Pacific Private Money's largest projects were generating losses and declining in value, creating material risk to the overall fund's financial stability. Despite this knowledge, they continued actively soliciting new investor capital without disclosing these fundamental problems. To maintain the appearance of viability, they moved capital between Pacific Private Money investment vehicles to keep them operational and used newly raised investor funds to pay distributions and redemptions owed to earlier investors—a classic Ponzi structure.
Additionally, the SEC alleges that Hanf personally misappropriated more than $7 million in investor funds, transferring money from Pacific Private Money to entities under his control to pay personal expenses including credit card bills and residential mortgage payments. The Pacific Private Money entities subsequently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2026. Conviction could result in decades of imprisonment for both defendants, with Phan and Hanf scheduled for subsequent court dates on September 23 and September 30, 2026, respectively.
According to prosecutors and SEC allegations, Hanf and Phan engaged in a conspiracy beginning in 2021 to deceive Pacific Private Money investors by making false and misleading statements about the enterprise's financial condition. The fund raised $103 million from 175 investors between 2021 and December 2025. U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian characterized the scheme as a Ponzi operation, stating the defendants "falsely assured investors that Pacific Private Money was successful and profitable, knowing that continued losses had turned it into a Ponzi scheme."
The core fraudulent mechanics involved concealing material deterioration in fund performance. Prosecutors allege that Hanf and Phan knew as early as 2021 that numerous of Pacific Private Money's largest projects were generating losses and declining in value, creating material risk to the overall fund's financial stability. Despite this knowledge, they continued actively soliciting new investor capital without disclosing these fundamental problems. To maintain the appearance of viability, they moved capital between Pacific Private Money investment vehicles to keep them operational and used newly raised investor funds to pay distributions and redemptions owed to earlier investors—a classic Ponzi structure.
Additionally, the SEC alleges that Hanf personally misappropriated more than $7 million in investor funds, transferring money from Pacific Private Money to entities under his control to pay personal expenses including credit card bills and residential mortgage payments. The Pacific Private Money entities subsequently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2026. Conviction could result in decades of imprisonment for both defendants, with Phan and Hanf scheduled for subsequent court dates on September 23 and September 30, 2026, respectively.
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