Shareholders of Crocus Investment Fund are expanding their lawsuit to include the Manitoba government.

Spokesman Bernie Bellan and other shareholders have filed a statement of claim, alleging the government failed to heed warning signs as far back as 2001 that the labour-sponsored investment fund was headed for trouble.

The shareholders have already launched a lawsuit for $200 million against the fund’s former operators, the Manitoba Securities Commission and others.

Bellan says the claim against the government will be rolled into the existing lawsuit.

The province has not yet filed a statement of defence.

Crocus went into receivership last year after its value plummeted.

A report from Manitoba’s auditor-general said the fund’s operators had overstated Crocus’s value, and the province had missed warning signs that the fund was in trouble.