Officials say that from December 2021 through December 2025, Mark Hanf and Nam Phan courted investors with real estate opportunities, saying the money would fund loans backed by property and touting strong returns. According to the complaint, they already knew by no later than December 2021 that things were going south after a developer partner died, loans stopped performing, and the projects behind those loans looked unlikely to pay out. The filing says they started moving money among Pacific Private Money Group funds to make liquidity appear healthy and used new investor capital to cover payouts to earlier investors.
Prosecutors say the two sustained the illusion with misrepresentations and fake documents to forestall redemptions, and they allegedly tapped investor funds to cover personal costs including a home mortgage and credit card balances. By 2025, mounting withdrawal requests from dozens of investors intensified the strain.
The SEC's San Francisco Regional Office underscored the size of the hole. Speaking for the SEC's San Francisco Regional Office, associate director Jason Lee said that although close to $121 million had been put into the two private funds, by February 2026 regulators assessed that recoverable assets from those funds were under $17 million. The bankruptcy filings show about 400 investors in the debtor group, tied to roughly $140 million in investments, and, according to court filings, 31 investors had claims of $1 million or above.
The Aug. 31 criminal complaint charges Hanf and Phan with wire fraud, and Hanf separately with money laundering. Both also face a federal count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. If convicted of the wire fraud conspiracy, each could receive up to 20 years in prison, and Hanf faces up to 10 years on the money laundering charge.
The SEC's civil action accuses them of violating securities laws and running an offering fraud, and if the agency wins, they could be prohibited from participating in issuing, purchasing, offering, or selling any security other than for their own accounts. Both men entered not guilty pleas and left custody on $250,000 bonds. A change of plea hearing is set for the end of September, and Realtor.com has asked Hanf's attorney, Shaneeda Jaffer, for comment.
The best financial decisions come from understanding the whole picture. Join Market Briefs free and get the full brief each morning.
For people tied up in PPMG's funds, the math is stark: the bankruptcy shows roughly $140 million across about 400 investor accounts, and the SEC points to less than $17 million estimated as recoverable in the two private funds as of February 2026. How much comes back, and when, will turn on the criminal case, the SEC lawsuit, and the Chapter 11 process.
