The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a suit against a Stamford, Conn., advisory firm Tuesday for allegedly investing $43 million of customer money in dubious, illiquid bonds with a brokerage connected to it without disclosing the conflict of interest to clients.

According to the complaint, the bonds were issued by a Native American tribal corporation and generated private placement fees for a broker-dealer affiliated with BFG Socially Responsible Investing Ltd., which partially owns the company being sued, Atlantic Asset Management.

 “Atlantic violated a fundamental duty to its clients by placing its own financial interests ahead of client interests,” said Andrew Calamari, director of the SEC’s New York regional office.  “AAM’s clients should have been informed that the investments would financially benefit people with ownership control over AAM.”

The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.