NEW YORK, March 14. /TASS/. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has announced charges against Florida-based Russian citizen Denis Sotnikov over his alleged participation in a fraudulent scheme to lure US investors into buying fictitious Certificates of Deposit, the commission said in a statement posted on its website on Friday.

The complaint was filed in the federal court in the District of New Jersey.

"Since November 2014, the alleged scheme involved spoofing the websites of at least 24 actual financial firms or using at least 8 fictitious entities, resulting in over $26 million in known investor losses - with many of those losses from older investors who used their retirement savings," the statement reads.

According to New Jersey Prosecutor’s Office, Sotnikov has been apprehended and brought to trial.