< p>HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department says an unprecedented rise in ponzi and other investment fraud schemes has forced it to hold a regional summit in Connecticut to warn people about such cases.

The investment fraud summit scheduled to begin Monday will involve federal prosecutors, enforcement attorneys, law enforcement officers, scholars, victims of investor fraud and others.

The summit at the University of Connecticut campus in Stamford begins Monday. Topics include prosecuting investor fraud in the northeast region, case studies and the victim's perspective.

Participants will come from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey, southern parts of New York and parts of Pennsylvania. Other summits are also planned for later in the month.

Federal prosecutors looking at investment cases from the last two years identified 500 prosecutions that targeted 800 defendants and involved more than $20 billion in fraud.