CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Chagrin Falls financial adviser was indicted this week on charges that he participated in a scheme to defraud at least 100 investors of more than $15 million, federal prosecutors said.

Larry Werbel, owner of Evolution Partners Wealth Management, was one of several brokers who recruited investors for shares of a shell company called VgTel Inc., with the promise of high dividends, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. In reality, the shares were being sold and bought by companies that the accused schemers owned in an effort to artificially inflate the price, the release states.

Prosecutors say of the $15 million invested, more than $9 million went into the pockets of those involved in the scheme. Werbel found investors and pushed them to buy $3 million in shares for VgTel, prosecutors claim. In return, he received more than $300,000 in kickbacks, the news release states.

The FBI arrested Werbel, 67, at his home in Solon on Wednesday. He was released after appearing in front of Magistrate Judge Greg White in Cleveland. His bond is set at $100,000, and he must post 10 percent of it by Monday.

He is charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, investment adviser fraud and making false statements to federal officers.

Scott Matasar, one of Werbel's attorneys, said Friday that his client "disputes the allegations against him in the indictment and looks forward to the opportunity to defend himself."

The scheme's mastermind, according to prosecutors, was Edward Durante, who was arrested in Germany and extradited to the U.S. on Dec. 18. Durante, who federal officials say goes by five aliases, was convicted of securities fraud in 2001, and the investors who gave money in the recent scheme were not made aware of this, the news release states.

In addition to Durante and Werbel, brokers in New Jersey, New York and Nevada were indicted in the scheme. Two have pleaded guilty.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has also filed a civil suit against Werbel, Durante and the other co-defendants in the criminal case, prosecutors said in the release.

Werbel also has claims pending against him in front of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. John Chapman, a Cleveland attorney representing two people that he said lost a combined $750,000 to Werbel, said "a lot of people put their trust in him and relied on him to take care of their money."