Court Turns Down Appeals For "Three Hebrew Boys"

Tools

By Eric Weisfeld

Story Created: Jun 6, 2012 at 4:31 PM EDT

Story Updated: Jun 6, 2012 at 4:39 PM EDT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) _ A federal court has turned down an appeal from three South Carolina men convicted of fleecing investors of $80 million.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of appeals on Wednesday upheld the convictions of Joseph Brunson, Timothy McQueen and Tony Pough (pyoo).
The three men were convicted in 2009 on dozens of fraud charges and sentenced to decades in prison.
Authorities say the men claimed they could make amazing returns in currency markets but actually invested less than $1 out of every $10,000 they were given, spending the cash on themselves.
A receiver has spent years gathering the men's assets and selling them off. Last month, about 3,800 investors received checks totaling $19 million in the first round of payouts from those proceeds.