N.Y. man sentenced to 12 1/2 years in forex scheme

NEW YORK, Feb 15 (Reuters) - A New York man was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison for leading a foreign currency exchange scheme that resulted in more than 200 investors losing about $6.5 million, federal prosecutors said on Friday.

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in Manhattan also ordered Boris Shuster, 35, to pay $6.4 million restitution and a $10,000 fine and to forfeit $7.9 million, prosecutors said.

In a separate case, a federal judge in Brooklyn last year sentenced Shuster, who also goes by the name Robert Shuster, to five years in prison, according to court documents.

The U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan said on Friday that Shuster, along with a co-defendant, ran foreign exchange firm Holston, Young, Parker & Associates, where they employed nine other people.

Holston was run as a "boiler room," where employees lied to investors and used high-pressure sales techniques to solicit investments in the company's purported forex trading program, prosecutors said.

The defendants lied about the use of invested funds, used false names and titles, and lied about their experience in the industry, prosecutors said.

In June, Shuster pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, 14 counts of wire fraud, and 13 counts of mail fraud. U.S. prosecutors investigated the case along with the FBI.

The other 10 defendants have also pleaded guilty in the case and are awaiting sentencing, prosecutors said.

Shuster's lawyer was not immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Paritosh Bansal; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)