A 49-year-old man who used his business to conduct a Ponzi scheme has been sentenced to eight years in prison.
Paul Clifford Hibbs was sentenced in the Christchurch District Court on Friday, for a Ponzi scheme which took $17.5 million from investors, some of whom he had known for years.
Justice David Saunders told Hibbs he had "weaved a web of deceit for eight years when dealing with client funds and their portfolios".
Hibbs - who started his own investment company in 2002 - pleaded guilty to a string of charges including theft by a person in a special relationship, forgery and false statements.
"You ran a Ponzi scheme over eight years resulting in deceiving 22 clients of around $17.5m," Judge Saunders said.
