7 O.C. Men Indicted on Telemarket Scam Charges : Investing: Prosecutors say the suspects defrauded the elderly out of millions of dollars through bogus investment schemes.

Seven Orange County men have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of defrauding elderly people out of millions of dollars, prosecutors said Friday.

The prosecution is the largest so far in “Operation Disconnect,” one of the nation’s biggest probes of boiler rooms--a type of scam in which salespeople sell bogus investments and the like by telephone. The FBI in March made 240 arrests in several dozen boiler rooms in 13 states, including California.

Indicted Thursday were Timothy J. Laros, 29, and Paul C. Cooper, 30, of Huntington Beach, who prosecutors said owned and managed four companies that ran boiler rooms.

Victims were told they had won expensive prizes such as cars as part of promotional campaigns for health and safety products, said the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.

Prosecutors allege that the boiler rooms made thousands of calls a day all over the country. The victims were told to send “hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars,” prosecutors said--which turned out to be more than the prizes were worth.

The indictment charges the seven men with the federal crimes of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.

Laros said Friday that “the government is trying to pull out everything negative. But our companies are legitimate.”

Also indicted was Fred Bakhshekooei, 40, of Laguna Niguel, who prosecutors said was controller of the companies.

The other four people indicted were Kam Foo, 22; Todd Beard, 28; Darrell Vartanian, 25; and Dean Bowman, 33. All live in Huntington Beach. Prosecutors said those four were among the companies’ top salespeople, generating $1 million between them in a single year.

The companies are United Safety Associates of Huntington Beach; Life Pro International of Tustin; American Superior Products of Costa Mesa and Fountain Valley; and Midwest Home and Family of Huntington Beach and San Antonio.