Milwaukee investment club treasurer duped friends for $81K The longtime treasurer of a Milwaukee investment club convicted of bilking her friends out of more than $80,000 has been sentenced to nine months in federal prison

MILWAUKEE -- The longtime treasurer of a Milwaukee investment club convicted of bilking her friends out of more than $80,000 has been sentenced to nine months in federal prison.

The Journal Sentinel reports that 63-year-old Wendy Yanow allegedly stole $50 monthly investments from Women of Wealth club members for 16 years, after cleaning out the existing portfolio in 2002. She pleaded guilty in June to wire fraud.

The club started in 1995 with five members and grew to 12, mostly women Yanow knew from the neighborhood and her synagogue.

Yanow has paid back about $81,000 in restitution. If the money had been invested as the club had directed, it would have grown to more than $400,000.

Club member Bobby Miller told a judge during Friday's sentencing that it was "betrayal beyond imagination."

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Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com