ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — An Indianapolis man has pleaded guilty to defrauding thousands of investors through a fake online credit union.

Sixty-three-year-old Timothy Coughlin entered the plea Wednesday in federal court in Alexandria.

According to a statement of facts, from around 2006 through March 2014, Coughlin operated the Oxford International Credit Union. Prosecutors say 5,000 investors from 50 countries made deposits to the fake credit union totaling almost $15 million.

Authorities say in 2009, Coughlin stopped allowing withdrawals from accounts, falsely claiming that the United States and Canada were freezing Oxford’s assets abroad.

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