SHAWNEE-ON-DELAWARE, Pa. (AP) - A Pennsylvania ex-con who once claimed he could cure AIDS with ozone enemas has been charged with defrauding investors by telling them he controlled more than $1 billion worth of Texas oil.

Prosecutors say Richard Harley claimed to own 10 million barrels in Brown County, Texas.

Harley is from Shawnee-on-Delaware, in the Pocono Mountains. Prosecutors say he told investors he needed to borrow money to pump the crude from the ground and promised huge returns on investments. They say he didn’t own any oil and lined his pockets with investors’ cash.

Harley also is accused of trying to deposit two $500 million checks he claimed were issued by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

There’s no telephone listing for Harley, who ran a bogus AIDS clinic in the 1990s and was sentenced to five years in prison.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)