According to prosecutors, a group of men behind an Iraqi currency scheme created a pitch that included war hero tales to lure potential investors.

"You have someone who is out there ... who is soliciting millions and millions of dollars from people just making stuff up," said Steven Dettelbach, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

The opportunity was pitched as a way to profit from a nearly worthless Iraqi dinar. Scammers promised profits were nearly guaranteed if investors bought dinars at today's values, and then exchanged the dinars back for dollars at a later date once the dinar exchange rate presumably improved.

