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Prosecutors say Richard Harley portrayed himself to potential
investors as fabulously wealthy, falsely claiming he held
hundreds of millions of dollars in bank instruments, $1 billion
in Texas oil reserves and a collection of fine art.
While trolling the Internet for gullible victims of his phony
investment scheme, Harley was actually scraping by on $500 a
month in Social Security benefits, Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce
Brandler told jurors in opening statements.
"Unfortunately, there are people in our society who don't have
common sense," Brandler said. "Mr. Harley preys on these type of
people."
Harley is charged in a 23-count indictment with wire fraud,
bankruptcy fraud, bank fraud and making false statements in a
scheme that prosecutors said began in 1999 and played out over
13 years. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison on
each of the more serious felony counts.
He has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer, Joe O'Brien, reserved the
right to deliver his opening statement after the prosecution
rests its case.
The trial in U.S. District Court in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania,
is expected to last two weeks.
Harley previously served five years in prison on a conviction
for a scam in the 1990s in which he claimed to have discovered a
cure for AIDS.
(Editing by Steve Gorman and Paul Tait)
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