NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Prosecutors say a Utah man has been sentenced to five years in prison for his part in a nationwide investment fraud scheme that targeted elderly victims and led to losses of nearly $30 million.

According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, 62-year-old Tony Scott Sellers and other conspirators made misrepresentations and omitted information over six years to sell highly speculative investments that were sold and controlled by others.

Based on the fake claims, unsuspecting investors cashed out of 401(k) and other retirement accounts to purchase the investments, unaware that a portion of the funds would be skimmed off the top in so-called fees.