A federal judge froze the assets of a hedge fund manager accused of acting as a $2bn feeder fund for a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme operated by Minnesota businessman Thomas Petters, federal regulators said on Friday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it obtained the court order in a lawsuit accusing Gregory Bell and his Lancelot Management LLC of fraud.

The lawsuit also accused Petters of fraud for a Ponzi scheme involving the sale of notes related to consumer electronics. When Petters' scheme began to unravel, the SEC said, Bell participated in a series of sham transactions to conceal that Petters owed more than $130m in investor payments on the notes.