A Pennsylvania attorney has been charged with bilking his law clients out of more than $2.7 million in an investment fraud scheme, federal authorities said Tuesday.

Todd Lahr, 60, of Nazareth, was charged with conspiracy, wire fraud and securities fraud for a scheme prosecutors allege operated from 2012 through 2019, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Lahr, an attorney in Allentown, told investors that their money would go into a variety of business opportunities, most prominently a Papua New Guinea mining operation, that didn’t exist, authorities allege. He used the money for such things as his mortgage, his child’s school tuition, utility bills and other personal debt, they say.

A message seeking comment was sent Tuesday to a federal public defender representing Lahr.