The U.S. SEC sued the planner of the largest cryptocurrency scam in history, involving a total amount of up to $2 billion

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday sued the founder of now-defunct cryptocurrency trading platform BitConnect, alleging he was responsible for orchestrating one of the largest cryptocurrency scams in history, defrauding retail investors of about $2 billion.

The SEC expanded a civil lawsuit announced in May, alleging that BitConnect founder Satish Kumbhani, an Indian citizen, illegally peddled BitConnect’s unregistered products between January 2017 and January 2018.

The agency also charged promoter Glenn Arcaro and his company, Future Money Ltd., with fraud, alleging they received more than $24 million in “referral commissions” and “development funds” while promoting BitConnect between August 2017 and January 2018.

The SEC seeks fines, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and other relief in the lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan.

The SEC said Arcaro had pleaded guilty to related U.S. criminal charges. No further details were immediately available.

Founded in 2016, BitConnect created a digital token called BitConnect Coin, which is redeemable for Bitcoin.

The SEC said that investors who participated in BitConnect’s “lending program” were told that BitConnect would use a “volatility software trading robot” that could generate a 40% return per month, or about 3,700% per year.

In fact, on January 16, 2018, the price of BitConnect Coin plummeted by 92%, and investors lost a lot of money.

The SEC said Kumbhani, 35, lives in Surat, India, but his whereabouts are unknown, while Arcaro, 44, lives in Moorpark, California.