Nov 5, 2010 14:54 GMT  ·  By

A man and a woman were found guilty earlier this week of instrumenting two advance-fee schemes which affected hundreds of people and netted them over $7 million.

The verdict, returned by a federal jury in New York on Monday, found defendands Noemi Dodakian and Chong Shing Wu guilty of wire fraud.

According to prosecutors, the first advance-fee scam started back in 2005, when Dodakian began recruiting investors to allegedly pay fees that would secure the release of hundreds of millions of dollars.

The money was supposed to be held in an account at World Bank and victims were promised a significant return on investment over a short period of time.

To increase the credibility of her claims, the fraudster gave them so called "promissory notes" as guarantee, which in reality had absolutely no value.

A second scam involved an alleged $23 billion "note" from the Federal Reserve and Dodakian claimed to have established an investment program that would enable participants to share the proceeds from it.

Chong Shing Wu assisted in the scheme by posing as Federal Reserve agent and verifying the authenticity of the note.

Dodakian personally received over $6 million from 330 victims from around the country. Authorities note that some of the affected people lost their life savings and their homes as a result.

The two fraudsters used the stolen money for personal expenses, such as mortgage, college tuition, jewelry and other luxury goods.

Two other co-conspirators, Robert Ingram and Olivia Jeanne Bowen were previously found guilty in the case and sentenced to 144 months and 63 months in prison, respectively.

"Noemi Dodakian and Chong Shing Wu lured their victims with the promise of outlandish returns into entrusting them with millions of dollars, which the defendants used to pad their own lifestyle while sending their victims into financial ruin.

"This verdict sends a clear message that this Office, with its partners at the FBI, will bring those who perpetrate advance fee schemes to justice," said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara.