SAN DIEGO -- The assets of a San Diego-based investment fund were frozen Thursday as the man behind the fund was under investigation for allegedly bilking investors out of $70 million, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Mohit A. Khanna solicited investors for his company, MAK 1 Enterprises Group LLC, in Southern California and several other states, according to the SEC complaint filed in federal court in San Diego.

He allegedly raised as much as $70 million from 300 investors and claimed he would invest their money in commercial paper, foreign currency and other guaranteed investments, but instead bought luxury cars and homes, including those now owned by his wife, Sharanjit Khanna, who was named as a relief defendant.

The SEC alleges that Khanna claimed there was $50 million in what he said were federally insured investor accounts, when the average daily balance never exceeded $197,000.

He was barred in 2004 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.