(Bloomberg) -- A New York jewelry wholesaler admitted he ran a $200 million Ponzi scheme, falsely telling investors he was using their money to buy jewelry at “closeout” prices and reselling it at markups of 30% to 70%.

Instead, prosecutors said, Gregory Altieri admitted on Wednesday that he used money from new investors to repay earlier investors. Altieri, of Melville, New York, faces as long as 20 years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court in Brooklyn.

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