Shane Hvizdzak of Bradford has asked a federal judge to postpone a civil case against him pending the resolution of a not-yet-filed criminal case against him, both for allegedly defrauding hedge fund investors out of millions of dollars.

In June of 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against Shane Hvizdzak, 32, and his brother Sean, 34, of St. Marys, along with a company the two co-owned, High Street Capital. The complaint alleged the two owned High Street Capital in Bradford, that they allegedly took money from investors, said it was being invested in digital assets and fabricated statements saying the investments were earning huge returns.

However, the SEC alleged the brothers took about $31 million from investors, put it in their personal accounts and then moved it outside the United States. Some of the funds were put in untraceable digital accounts, the SEC alleged.

At the same time the indictment was unsealed, in June of 2020, agents with the FBI searched the business address of High Street Capital, which is also Shane Hvizdzak’s residence. To this point, no criminal charges have been filed in the matter.

In a motion to stay proceedings filed Friday in federal court, Shane Hvizdzak, through attorney Efrem Grail, asked to postpone the civil proceedings.

“Here, Shane Hvizdzak is the target of a pending criminal investigation of the same conduct at issue in this civil proceeding,” read a memorandum of law in support of the motion.

The memorandum indicated that a deposition in the civil case could pose a substantial risk of self-incrimination for Shane Hvizdzak, which would “present serious Fifth Amendment concerns.”

So far, throughout the civil case, Hvizdzak has asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination in response to allegations by the SEC.

The memorandum noted, “the U.S. Attorney’s Office is well along in its Grand Jury investigation and its assistant stated that criminal charges will likely be brought against him sometime after the July 1, 2021, civil discovery cut-off in this matter.”

Grail also noted that the SEC would not be prejudiced by a stay in the case, as Hvizdzak’s assets remain frozen and there would be no unfair advantage to Hvizdzak by delaying the case.

As of Monday, the prosecution had yet to respond to the request.