Brothers scammed for over $100,000 each

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Jim and Pat Taylor are brothers, bonded by blood and now by a scheme that cost both of them over $100,000 each.

"I`ve lost sleep and can`t get it out of my mind," Jim Taylor said.

"Knowing there are people in this country willing to say or do anything because they are too lazy to get an honest job," Pat Taylor said.

Jim Taylor learned about an investment involving the buying and selling of foreign currency and told his brother Pat about it.

"I had already lost some money in the stock market. If I had not lost that money in 2008, I might not have been as anxious to get into something like this, but I was looking for an opportunity to make back some of the money my wife and I lost," Pat Taylor said.

The Taylors were lured in by a man who claimed to be a Christian -- like them, so they felt they could trust him.

"He was very adamant about the fact that he wanted to only work with Christian people --  that he would not take non-Christians as clients," Pat Taylor said.

"He suckered people in that way and got them to believe that money they put in they would get a 10-13% return guaranteed with no risk at all," U.S. Postal Inspector Amanda McMurrey said.

Postal inspectors say there were more than 80 victims and over $50 million in loses.

"If you don`t understand how the investment works, that might not be the investment for you. A guaranteed return is a guaranteed loss because all investments are risky," McMurrey said.

Jim Taylor says his biggest regret was dragging his brother into the scam.

"I brought him in and threw his money away and that makes matters worse. Not only did I lose my money, I lost his," Jim Taylor said.

"I don`t hold him to blame in any way shape or form," Pat Taylor said.

The mastermind behind the scheme pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $15 million in restitution to the victims.