Key Takeaways
- • Mark Hanf (founder/CEO, age 66) and Nam Phan (COO, age 58) of Pacific Private Money face federal wire fraud conspiracy charges for operating a multi-year Ponzi scheme that defrauded 175 investors of $103 million between 2021 and December 2025.
- • Prosecutors allege the executives knowingly concealed that major projects were losing money and value as early as 2021, then continued soliciting new investor capital while moving funds between investment vehicles to sustain distributions and redemptions to earlier investors.
- • Hanf is also accused of diverting PPM funds to a personal entity to pay private expenses including credit card bills and mortgage payments; the fund filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2026.
- • Both defendants face decades in prison if convicted; Phan's next court appearance is September 23, 2026, with Hanf scheduled to return September 30, 2026.
Summary
Mark Hanf, founder and chief executive officer of Pacific Private Money, and Nam Phan, the firm's chief operating officer, were charged with wire fraud conspiracy in federal court in San Francisco on September 2, 2026. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California, the two executives engaged in a coordinated, multi-year conspiracy to defraud investors by systematically misrepresenting the financial condition of Pacific Private Money entities to induce continued capital commitments.
Between 2021 and December 2025, Pacific Private Money raised $103 million from 175 investors. Federal prosecutors allege that Hanf, 66, of Tiburon, and Phan, 58, of Novato, possessed knowledge as early as 2021 that several of the fund's largest real estate projects were experiencing significant losses and depreciation, thereby jeopardizing the overall financial stability of Pacific Private Money. Despite this knowledge, the defendants continued to solicit new investor capital without disclosing these material deteriorations in fund performance.
The scheme relied on classic Ponzi mechanics: prosecutors contend that Hanf and Phan transferred capital between investment vehicles within the Pacific Private Money structure to maintain fund solvency and paid distributions and redemption requests to earlier investors using proceeds from newly invested capital. Additionally, Hanf is accused of personally benefiting from the fraud by diverting PPM funds to another entity under his control to finance private expenses, including credit card payments and residential mortgage obligations.
U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian characterized the conduct as deliberate deception, stating that "these defendants falsely assured investors that Pacific Private Money was successful and profitable, knowing that continued losses had turned it into a Ponzi scheme." The fund filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2026. Both defendants made initial court appearances on September 2, 2026, with Phan scheduled to return on September 23 and Hanf on September 30. Conviction on the wire fraud conspiracy charges carries potential sentences of decades in prison.
Between 2021 and December 2025, Pacific Private Money raised $103 million from 175 investors. Federal prosecutors allege that Hanf, 66, of Tiburon, and Phan, 58, of Novato, possessed knowledge as early as 2021 that several of the fund's largest real estate projects were experiencing significant losses and depreciation, thereby jeopardizing the overall financial stability of Pacific Private Money. Despite this knowledge, the defendants continued to solicit new investor capital without disclosing these material deteriorations in fund performance.
The scheme relied on classic Ponzi mechanics: prosecutors contend that Hanf and Phan transferred capital between investment vehicles within the Pacific Private Money structure to maintain fund solvency and paid distributions and redemption requests to earlier investors using proceeds from newly invested capital. Additionally, Hanf is accused of personally benefiting from the fraud by diverting PPM funds to another entity under his control to finance private expenses, including credit card payments and residential mortgage obligations.
U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian characterized the conduct as deliberate deception, stating that "these defendants falsely assured investors that Pacific Private Money was successful and profitable, knowing that continued losses had turned it into a Ponzi scheme." The fund filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2026. Both defendants made initial court appearances on September 2, 2026, with Phan scheduled to return on September 23 and Hanf on September 30. Conviction on the wire fraud conspiracy charges carries potential sentences of decades in prison.
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