The SEC filed an emergency action to freeze the assets and halt activity of Megafund Corp., which it charged is "completely bogus."

The lawsuit was filed July 1 in federal district court in Dallas. It named Flower Mound-based Megafund and its chief executive, Stanley A. Leitner, 66; Bradley C. Stark, 30, of Riverside, Calif., owner of Sardaukar Holdings IBC, a British Virgin Islands company that the SEC said conspired with Leitner; Stark's wife, Pamela C. Stark; and CIG Ltd.

Bradley Stark was sentenced to 18 months in prison after a 2003 conviction in New York for possessing counterfeit securities. He was on supervised release from that case while engaged in the Megafund scheme, the SEC said.

U.S. District Court Judge Sam A. Lindsay last week ordered a freeze on the defendants' assets and appointed a receiver to hold their money, securities and financial records.

Megafund promised risk-free annual returns of 120 percent by leading investors to think it had special access to restricted markets, the SEC said. The fund targeted Christian ministries and other nonprofit groups, claiming that some of the profits would benefit charities.

The fund raised money from more than 70 investors around the country, the SEC said. Megafund did not register with the SEC to sell securities.

The SEC charged that Leitner transferred nearly $11 million to a CIG bank account in the Netherlands Antilles, and CIG in turn transferred $9.5 million to Bradley Stark's company.

The SEC said Leitner invested $1 million to finance production of a movie and invested $650,000 in a cable TV company.

Stark spent about $500,000 on luxury automobiles, travel and jewelry and gave more than $1 million in tainted money to his wife, the SEC said.

Bradley Stark did not immediately return a phone call Tuesday. No phone number for Leitner was available.