A fugitive businessman was charged in a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday with swindling hundreds of investors out of $312 million with bogus claims about profits he made in the commodities futures trading markets.

Philip J. Baker, 44, was charged in the 27-count indictment with boasting that companies and commodities futures pools he controlled had been profitable for 13 years when in reality they had lost $38 million.

Baker, a Canadian last known to be living in Hamburg, Germany, marketed commodities futures investments to wealthy clients through the Chicago-based Lake Shore Group of Cos., according to the indictment.

The alleged fraud was first revealed in 2007 when the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission filed suit against one of Baker's companies, Lake Shore Asset Management Ltd.

U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said in a statement that the indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in February. He said it was unsealed Tuesday to help in the international hunt for Baker, who also has been the managing partner of a financial firm based in the Turks & Caicos Islands.

Prosecutors said Baker's whereabouts were unknown and they did not know of any lawyer representing him in the fraud charges. Two attorneys who had represented Lake Shore Asset Management Ltd. in the CFTC's civil suit declined to comment.

Among other things, the indictment charged that Baker lied to investors when he told them that no management fee would be charged and that they would have to pay only a "profit incentive fee" if the commodity pools generated profits.

Baker charged investors $30 million in fees, although the pools lost money and he pocketed much of the money himself, according to the indictment.

The indictment also charged that Baker lied when he said he had founded Lake Shore in 1993 when he actually had not become officially associated with any regulated Lake Shore entity until 2007.

A company known as Lake Shore Asset Management Inc. was registered with the CFTC prior to January 2007 but was not actively trading and Baker had no role in its management, according to the indictment. Federal prosecutors said Lake Shore Asset Management Inc. has not been accused of any wrongdoing.