WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday filed a lawsuit in an effort to freeze the assets of a group of New Yorkers accused of selling at least $1.6 million of fraudulent investments to unsuspecting investors, many of them elderly.

The SEC complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, accused One Wall Street Inc. and its chief executive, among others, of selling securities to at least 64 investors, falsely promising that the company would soon conduct an initial public offering and that it was preparing to merge with E*Trade Financial Corp. (ET).

Instead, the SEC said, CEO Donte Jarvis has used the proceeds as “a personal piggy bank,” paying for jewelry, gambling, and “adult entertainment services.” The 31-year-old also was accused of giving his wife, La Shondra Hatter, at least $166,000 in checks drawn on the One Wall Street account.

“This case emphasizes our continuing commitment to protecting elderly investors,” the director of the SEC’s Northeast regional office, Mark Schonfeld, said in a statement. “Here, we are seeking emergency relief to halt the fraud and preserve investor funds.”

Regulators typically file emergency lawsuits when they hope to prevent a further loss of investor funds. It isn’t clear whether investors — including a 79-year-old who allegedly invested $136,000 last month — will win back all the money they lost. Even in successful SEC actions combating fraud, investors don’t receive all the money they invested.

One Wall Street allegedly raised money by issuing unregistered securities starting in March 2003. The firm has an office in Hicksville, N.Y. A person who answered the phone Monday morning at a number for Jarvis and Hatter said they weren’t in.