Georgia man convicted in investment fraud scheme

PEORIA - A Georgia man faces decades in prison after a federal jury in central Illinois convicted him in an investment fraud scheme.

Kenneth W. Lewis was found guilty this week on four counts of wire fraud and 11 counts of money laundering.

Evidence at the five-day trial showed that beginning in the late 1990s, the 57-year-old Lewis offered investors the chance to generate income through overseas financial transactions. He obtained $5.5 million from others to cover living expenses and told investors he was living in Switzerland working on the transactions. Instead, he was living in a New Jersey hotel, where he was arrested in July 2012.

At his sentencing scheduled for June 25, Lewis faces a maximum penalty of 20 years on each count of wire fraud alone.