Grant Thornton, which is overseeing the break-up of a forex pyramid scheme that has gone into liquidation in 2016, is asking the victims/litigation funders for additional money. The appointed administrator is looking for backers to cover legal costs linked to the protracted liquidation and also to step up the process of recovering its assets and distributing them to creditors.

Reuters reported how the venture, known as EuroFX, scammed thousands of investors in China and other countries. Euro Forex Investment Limited, which had a British CEO and headquarters, operated a major forex trading scam, which was run through UK companies with New Zealand financial service provider registration.

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The high-profile licenses helped the firm defraud close to 4,000 people around the world out of more than $632.3 million. Grant Thornton maintains more than 3,000 confirmed victims who are located in several countries, with China the most prominent.

The liquidator said that if the added funding is not endorsed, the hunt for EuroFX’s missing money could face delays and may not materialize. However, David Ingram, partner at Grant Thornton, told Reuters they are in discussions with a litigation funder.

EuroFX scheme was providing handsome returns

EuroFX was shut down three years ago following a petition to the courts by creditor Sun Yao, according to documents filed with the UK companies’ registrar. The length, complexity, and cost of litigation didn’t give victims with empty pockets a procedural advantage as they had little to do with the merits of the case.

David Byrne, who is described as Euro FX’s CEO, was allowed to leave China after prosecutors dropped their investigation although several local marketers are currently serving prison sentences in the mainland.

Byrne, who was once involved in a bid to buy the West Ham football club, returned to London in 2017 after he reportedly offered to assist a police investigation into where the money went and who was ultimately responsible. Grant Thornton, however, has not yet found any assets related to EuroFX, which promised victims returns of 12 percent per month, according to its latest progress filing with the UK Companies House in September.