A federal jury in Brooklyn convicted a Queens man of defrauding Korean American investors out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, reports Patch.
Federal prosecutors say John Won convinced New York City’s Korean American community of investing in a company called ForexNPower and promised 10% monthly returns without risk.
QNS reports advertisements in Korean-language newspapers and radio claimed ForexNPower had a secret algorithmic trading method that enabled the company to guarantee the returns.
Authorities said no such algorithm existed and investors sustained significant losses.
“John Won and his co-conspirators targeted the Korean American community in our district and cheated them out of hundreds of thousands of their hard-earned dollars through a web of false promises, lies, and deceit,” said United States Attorney Peace in a statement.
According to Patch, Won worked with co-conspirator Tae Hung Kang, aka Kevin Kang. Kang pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud in March. He has yet to be sentenced.
Won could get up to 20 years in prison.
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