St. Peters currency trader Randall L. Stuckey was supposed to get 20 percent of any profits that he earned for his clients.

But federal prosecutors say Stuckey, faced with currency losses, not gains, created an imaginary $2.4 million in profits for more than 50 clients so that he could still get paid.

The original $2.4 million in client accounts has now shrunk to $800,000, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Albus, and Stuckey, 62, now faces a federal criminal indictment on a mail fraud charge.

The indictment, handed down Aug. 19 but sealed until Stuckey turned himself in Wednesday, also seeks the forfeiture of up to $2.4 million from a variety of bank and investment accounts linked to Stuckey.

Prosecutors seized and froze those accounts last week, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

Stuckey pleaded not guilty Wednesday in federal court in St. Louis, but both Albus and Stuckey's lawyer, Ron Jenkins, said that Stuckey was cooperating with investigators.

Jenkins told U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Ann Medler that Struckey had made a lengthy statement to investigators and supplied them with evidence. At the hearing, Stuckey waived his right to file any motions challenging witness or evidence in the case.