Mark Hanf and the COO of Novato-based Pacific Private Money agree they are responsible for at least $71 million in restitution to victims

Date: Sept. 30, 2026

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

San Francisco – Mark Hanf, the founder and CEO of Pacific Private Money, pleaded guilty in federal court today to wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering. Nam Phan, the fund group’s COO, previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy on Sept. 23, 2026.

Hanf of Tiburon, California, and Phan of Novato, California, were charged by Information by the United States Attorney on Aug. 31, 2026. Under the plea agreements filed in the case, the defendants pleaded guilty to all counts charged.

In pleading guilty, Hanf and Phan admitted to defrauding Pacific Private Money investors through false statements and omissions about the negative financial situation of Pacific Private Money’s various investment funds, their use of new investor funds to pay redemptions to prior investors, and the safety and security of the investment opportunities as part of a conspiracy that began in December 2021 and continued through December 2025. During this time, Hanf served as the enterprise’s Chief Executive Officer and majority owner, and Phan as the enterprise’s Chief Operating Officer. Among other things, Hanf and Phan admitted to knowingly releasing sanitized financial statements to investors that misled them about their investments, manipulating loan tapes shown to at least one investor, and telling a corporate investor that Pacific Private Money owned certain loans that they knew had already been sold. They admitted that during the conspiracy period between December 2021 and December 2025, Pacific Private Money raised approximately $106.7 million from investors. Both defendants agreed in their plea agreements that they would be responsible for restitution to victims of no less than $71,790,425.

As part of his plea agreement, Hanf also admitted to taking approximately $12,000 from a Pacific Private Money fund bank account, which had been funded by investors, and transferring it to his personal bank account to use to pay his monthly home mortgage in May 2025.

United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian. IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) San Francisco Field Office Acting Special Agent in Charge David Lowe and FBI Special Agent in Charge Scott Schelbe made the announcement.

Hanf’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Feb. 17, 2027, at 10:00 a.m. and Phan’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Feb. 10, 2027, at 10:00 a.m., both before United States District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley. Hanf and Phan each face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison as to the wire fraud conspiracy count, and Hanf faces a maximum of 10 years in prison as to the money laundering count. Any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christiaan Highsmith and Patrick O’Brien are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Mimi Lam, Maryam Beros, and Breana Dos Santos. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by IRS-CI and the FBI. The U.S. Attorney’s Office thanks the San Francisco Regional Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Marin County District Attorney’s Office for their assistance in the investigation.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 16 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.