Federal prosecutors said a Framingham man has been charged with running a Ponzi scheme that stole about $29 million from 130 victims over more than a decade.

Richard Elkinson was arrested in Mississippi on Tuesday and charged in Boston with mail fraud. He could face up to 20 years in prison.

Elkinson allegedly claimed beginning in about 1997 that he had large contracts to sell uniforms to various agencies, and offered lucrative returns to investors who would pay half the contract value to begin manufacturing.

Prosecutors said 76-year-old Elkinson began to default on repaying investors early last year.

A telephone listing for Elkinson could not immediately be found. It was not immediately clear if he has an attorney.