The Securities and Exchange Commission has named as relief defendants the wives of two defendants charged with running a Ponzi-like scheme that raised more than $345 million from over 230 investors across the U.S. The court overseeing the SEC's litigation has appointed a receiver and entered a preliminary injunction continuing an asset freeze until the case's conclusion.

The SEC alleges that Amanda Merrill and Lalaine Ledford, the wives of Kevin B. Merrill and Jay B. Ledford, respectively, received millions of dollars' worth of proceeds from the fraud their husbands and another individual ran in the form of real property, cash, luxury items and other goods, to which they have no legitimate claim. The SEC alleges that the wives have been unjustly enriched and seeks to have them disgorge their ill-gotten gains.