The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, has charged two brothers, Jonathan and Tanner Adam, with running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded over 80 investors out of $60 million. This announcement came out on Monday.

The SEC acted quickly, securing emergency asset freezes against both brothers. Jonathan lives in Angleton, Texas, while Tanner resides in Miami, Florida. Their companies, GCZ Global LLC and Triten Financial Group LLC, are also included in these actions.

From January 2023 to June 2024, the brothers allegedly promised investors returns of up to 13.5 percent each month. They claimed that Jonathan had created a trading "bot" that could spot arbitrage opportunities on a crypto trading platform. Unfortunately, this was not true.

According to the SEC, Tanner used some of the funds to build a luxurious $30 million condominium in Miami. Meanwhile, Jonathan reportedly spent at least $480,000 of investor money on recreational vehicles. To make matters worse, he didn’t disclose that he had previously been convicted of securities fraud three times.

The SEC is seeking permanent injunctions, which means they want to stop the brothers from continuing their activities. They also want to recover the money that was wrongfully obtained, along with interest and civil penalties.