Federal prosecutors from two agencies on Tuesday charged two former executives of a now-shuttered Marin County real estate investment and finance group with allegedly operating a multiyear fraud scheme that used new investor money to pay earlier investors while concealing mounting losses.
Mark Hanf, 66, founder and former CEO of Novato-based Pacific Private Money, and former Chief Operating Officer Nam Phan, 58, appeared Tuesday in federal court in San Francisco, waived indictment and pleaded not guilty. Both were released on $250,000 bonds. If convicted, each faces up to 20 years in prison on the conspiracy to commit wire fraud charge, while Hanf faces an additional maximum of 10 years on the money laundering charge. The charges also carry potential fines, restitution and forfeiture.
The Department of Justice alleges Pacific Private Money funds raised about $103 million from more…
Cyber fraud uses technology as the primary weapon. It is highly scalable and can be conducted from anywhere in the world.
- Phishing/Smishing/Vishing: Using deceptive emails (phishing), text messages (smishing), or phone calls (vishing) to trick victims into clicking malicious links or revealing sensitive data.
- Business Email Compromise (BEC): A high-value scam where a criminal impersonates a CEO or high-level executive via a “spoofed” email address to trick a staff member into making an urgent, unauthorized wire transfer.