Hartford (AP) - Authorities working to secure assets for victims of a massive, Connecticut-based investment fraud have obtained $230 million from an offshore account.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says in a court filing that the money was returned to the U.S. as the result of a court order against disgraced financier Francisco Illarramendi and his firm Highview Point Partners LLC, which managed three hedge funds.

David Bergers, director of the SEC's Boston office, said Tuesday that the move should help preserve the money for the benefit of defrauded investors.

Illarramendi pleaded guilty in March to fraud and other crimes related to his handling of hedge funds in Stamford. A pension fund for Venezuela's state oil workers accounted for most of the investment totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.