NC man sent to prison, bilked foreign-currency investors

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) – A federal judge is sending a North Carolina man to prison for more than 11 years after he operated a multi-million-dollar Ponzi scheme that swindled elderly investors.

Authorities say the sentence U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger imposed Tuesday on 64-year-old Barry Carlton Taylor of Franklin includes an order that he repay his victims nearly $2.2 million.

Taylor falsely claimed he was an expert in the foreign currency exchange market and that he had a computer software system that enabled his investments to generate very high returns.

Prosecutors say Taylor diverted more than $500,000 to spend on restaurants, entertainment and shopping and lost the rest.

Taylor pleaded guilty in January to commodities fraud and concealment of money laundering.

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