Three men who defrauded investors out of $1.6 million dollars in an apparent Ponzi scheme were handed sentences ranging between two and four years Friday in U.S. District Court.

Syed Qadri, 38, was sentenced to four years and three months in prison as the apparent mastermind of the scheme. Ruben Carrillo Gonzales, 50, and Jeffrey Greenhut, 40, were sentenced to 41 months and 24 months in prison, respectively, for their parts in crime.

According to U.S. Attorney Florence Nakakuni, the men operated through Honolulu-based companies Amasse Capital and Solomon & Co. from January through September 2006. The two companies purported to invest in high-yield bonds with minimal risk to investors. However, Nakakuni told the court, investment were actually used to pay back earlier investors, with the remainder of the funds going to Qadri.