Mark Hanf, the 66-year-old founder and CEO of Novato-based Pacific Private Money, pleaded guilty Wednesday, Sept. 30, to federal wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering charges.

Hanf and his chief operating officer, Nam Phan, 58, of Novato, admitted defrauding Pacific Private Money investors through false statements and omissions and using new investor money to pay redemptions to earlier investors. An earlier federal charging document said the funds had raised about $103 million from more than 175 investors. Pacific Private Money raised approximately $106.7 million between December 2021 and December 2025, according to their plea agreements. Phan pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy on Wednesday, Sept. 23.

Both agreed in their plea agreements that they would be responsible for at least $71,790,425 in restitution to victims.

The fraud hit close to home. Hanf lives in Tiburon, and Pacific Private Money was headquartered in Novato. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which filed a separate civil action on Sept. 1, said many of the roughly 190 investors were retired senior citizens.

In their plea agreements, Hanf and Phan admitted they released sanitized financial statements that hid losses. They also manipulated loan records shown to at least one investor and told a corporate investor that Pacific Private Money owned loans that had already been sold.

The scheme was triggered in part by the death of a client who owed the most in loans to the executives' original fund, according to Patch. After the client's death, Hanf and Phan began moving money between funds and using new investor money to pay redemptions to earlier investors starting in December 2021.

Hanf also admitted to diverting about $12,000 from a company fund account, funded by investors, to his personal bank account in May 2025 to cover his monthly mortgage payment. The SEC separately alleges he misappropriated more than $7 million in investor funds for personal use. Hanf has not admitted to that broader figure in the criminal case.

By February 2026, outstanding investments totaled nearly $121 million, but recoverable assets had fallen below $17 million, the SEC said. Pacific Private Money Group LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2026.

U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian said in a Sept. 1 statement that the charges reflect his office's commitment to protecting Bay Area investors from fraud. The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation led the probe, with assistance from the SEC's San Francisco office and the Marin County District Attorney's Office.

Hanf faces up to 20 years in prison on the wire fraud conspiracy count and up to 10 years on the money laundering count. Phan faces up to 20 years. Phan's sentencing is set for Feb. 10, 2027, and Hanf's for Feb. 17, 2027, both at 10 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley.