MINT HILL, N.C. -- A North Carolina man ran a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme to feed a lavish lifestyle that included a Maserati sports car and extravagant parties, federal investigators said Wednesday as they began trying to recover some of the assets.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said the late Bruce C. Kramer claimed he was an expert mathematician, persuading 79 investors to give him $40 million that he said would be used to trade off-exchange foreign currency. Court documents allege that Kramer, and his business Barki LLC of Mint Hill, actually lost $10 million in trading, used about $20 million to pay customers and used the remainder on personal expenses.

The agency said Kramer's scheme came to light after he committed suicide at his office last month.

"Given the circumstances, the CFTC's primary goal with this action is to ensure any existing assets are protected from further dissipation and fairly returned to customers," said CFTC Acting Director of Enforcement Stephen J. Obie in a statement.

A civil complaint filed against Kramer, a resident of Midland, also names his wife, Rhonda Kramer, but said she is not charged with violations. The suit demands that she return and repay assets, saying she isn't entitled to them.

Investigators said Kramer solicited clients from June 2004 through February 2009, claiming that he could provide monthly returns of 3 to 4 percent and telling one client that "he never lost a dollar of principal." Recently, as news broke about the multibillion dollar Ponzi scheme operated by Bernie Madoff, Kramer's customers began asking questions.

The CFTC contends that Kramer created fictitious trading statements indicating he had approximately $59 million in assets with profitable trades. But by the end of February, investigators say, Barki trading accounts held only about $600,000.

Court documents said Kramer was anything but a successful trader, sustaining losses almost every single month for almost a six-year period. But the complaint contends that Kramer and his wife used money of customers for personal expenses, purchasing a 48-acre horse farm, a 6,000-square-foot home, a Maserati, artwork, a race house and holding extravagant parties.