Marlborough, MA, April 17, 2014 -- Agents from the FBI and Homeland Security, acting on a search warrant, raided the headquarters of TelexFree Inc. on Thursday after Securities regulators in Massachusetts filed a lawsuit against the company, accusing it of defrauding tens of thousands of investors.

Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin's office said that TelexFree targeted mainly Brazilian immigrant communities, offering annual returns of up to 250 percent. TelexFree was shut down in Brazil last year for fraud, and has been under investigation in countries around the world since last summer.

TelexFree has denied the allegations of fraud in press releases. The company's US website was taken down on Tuesday.