Kyong Ho Kim of Newark is being charged with multiple counts of mail, wire and commodities fraud. Prosecutors say Kim represented himself as a successful foreign currency trader who took in $1.8 million of investors' money, then sent false reports indicating that their investments had grown.
But prosecutors say Kim diverted more than half the money from investors to his personal bank accounts. He then then spent the money on a car, a yacht and a lease on a waterfront home.
Prosecutors say Kim began his scheme in 2009 and continued through May of this year.
A message left Tuesday evening for his public defender was not immediately returned.
