3:45 p.m. Wednesday:

The case involving missing Downers Grove man David Hernandez has moved from a civil case alleging his involvement in a Ponzi scheme to a criminal charge and warrant for his arrest.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois charged Hernandez, 48, with mail fraud Wednesday.

On Monday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil complaint alleging Hernandez defrauded $11 million from investors through a defunct business called NextStep Financial Services. The SEC said Hernandez guaranteed the investors up to 16 percent returns. The civil complaint stated Hernandez siphoned funds from investors into other business ventures and purchased personal items.

Downers Grove police said Hernandez was still missing Wednesday after his wife told authorities Hernandez did not return home from work Monday night.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, the mail fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and $250,000 fine.

Check back later for an update.

Tuesday:

On the same day a civil action complaint was filed against David Hernandez, alleging he is involved in an $11 million Ponzi scheme, the Downers Grove man was reported missing by his wife.

Downers Grove Police Sgt. David Bormann said Hernandez, 48, 1321 Hawkins Ave., was last seen by his wife at about 1 p.m. Monday.

Gina Hernandez, who is listed in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s complaint as a relief defendant for receiving “ill-gotten gains from Hernandez’s fraud,” reported her husband missing at about 7 p.m. Monday, police said.

“The wife was concerned based on the issues he’s going through right now,” Bormann said. “He did not return home, and she reported him missing.”

Bormann said Tuesday, the department’s police investigators were attempting to find Hernandez.

Hernandez might be driving a 2005 olive colored Ford Explorer with Illinois registration 9656625, Bormann said. Anyone with any information should call the Downers Grove Police Department at (630) 434-5600.

On Monday, the SEC filed a civil action complaint against Hernandez alleging that beginning in February 2008, he solicited investors to buy “guaranteed investment contracts” through his defunct business, NextStep Financial Services. The SEC said Hernandez told investors that his company was successful and invested in payday advance stores. The SEC said Hernandez guaranteed the investors’ returns between 10 and 16 percent per month.

According to the SEC, Hernandez solicited money from at least 100 investors in 12 states, siphoning those funds through NextStep Financial into his personal financial accounts for the purchase of cars, jewelry, a piano and to pay off the mortgage on his family’s home. The complaint states Hernandez also misappropriated some of those funds into other business ventures, including the sports-talk Web site for Chicago Sports Webio.

According to the complaint, the SEC said Hernandez has violated the registration and anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws.

“Hernandez bilked investors out of funds that he led them to believe were being invested properly and safely,” said Merri Jo Gillette, director of the SEC’s Chicago regional office, in a written statement. “Instead, he was paying investors in Ponzi-like fashion to keep his scheme afloat while he used their money for personal expenses and to start an online sports talk venture.”

The SEC said Hernandez was convicted in 1998 for wire fraud in relation to his job at a bank at the time.