2 former executives of the bankrupt health care company Canopy Financial Inc. were charged Monday with swindling investors out of $75 million and illegally pocketing $19 million from accounts that were supposed to pay the medical bills of individuals nationwide.

Canopy’s former president and chief operating officer, Jeremy Blackburn, 36, formerly of Malibu, California, had already been charged in a criminal complaint filed in December with operating a $60 million fraud. He was released on a $1 million bond.

A criminal information filed by federal prosecutors on Monday said the amount of fraud discovered by federal investigators had grown to $75 million. Also Monday, the government charged Canopy’s chief technology officer, Anthony Banas, 32, of Chicago, with taking part in massive fraud.

The Chicago-based company was known as one of the nation’s fastest growing businesses before it entered bankruptcy last Nov. Both executives were charged with 2 counts of wire fraud punishable by up to 20 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.

The government has asked the court to order the 2 men to forfeit $94 million plus watches and automobiles if they are convicted.

The problems at Canopy surfaced last fall when the company went into bankruptcy and came as a shock to those who relied on the health care accounts to pay their medical bills. The accounts were frozen last fall. The U.S. attorney’s office said it would be sending victim notification letters to 1,600 people identified as victims so far.

It said those who believe they are victims and have not received such a letter by March 15 should call a toll-free hot line, 866-364-2621, or e-mail usailn.victim.aia(at)usdoj.gov and provide their names and addresses.

source: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=9983106