The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday accused the father-and-son team that operated the Reserve Primary Fund of securities fraud, contending they had lied to investors when the fund "broke the buck" last fall and created a near panic in the money market fund industry.

Bruce Bent Sr. and his son, Bruce Bent II, were charged in a civil lawsuit with "falsely assuring" shareholders, the fund's board and rating agencies that their flagship fund remained safe and liquid at a time when the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers had made the fund far more precarious than investors realized.