NY man sentenced to 88 mos. for "boiler room" scam

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday sentenced a New York man to 88 months in prison for his role in a foreign currency exchange scheme that cost investors about $6.5 million.

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero also ordered Victor Altman to pay $1.23 million in restitution and forfeit another $1.23 million, prosecutors said in a statement.

Altman was sentenced for his role in helping run foreign exchange firm Holston, Young, Parker & Associates, a boiler room scheme where staff used high pressure techniques and lies to cheat investors, prosecutors said.

They said Altman and others lied about the use of invested funds and used false names when they telephoned potential investors. They then misrepresented their work history and the firm's success rate, prosecutors said.

Altman, 39, who lives in Brooklyn, New York, previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, and one count of wire fraud in the case.

Another defendant in the case, Boris Shuster, was sentenced in February to 150 months in prison, while defendant Alexander Dzedets has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.

(Reporting by Paul Thomasch, Editing by Toni Reinhold)