A tiny fraction of that money has been recovered.
Macdonald has been released by the Parole Board at his first hearing and will be out of Rangipo Prison by the end of the month.
Investors - who lost at least $85 million when the group collapsed in 2007 - are furious Macdonald will live in a $1 million North Shore home despite being a bankrupt.
In his submission to the Parole Board, Macdonald "unreservedly accepted" responsibility for his part in the collapse of the Five Star group and expressed contrition for the "horrendous impact" suffered by investors.
While noting Macdonald's offending as "deliberately wrongful conduct" with "potentially horrendous consequences", the Parole Board said the former lawyer did not pose an undue risk to public safety.
Although Macdonald voluntarily surrendered his practising certificate, the Parole Board imposed further employment conditions as part of his release because his offending involved a "significant breach of trust".
He is not allowed to be employed as a legal executive, para legal, or any position which involves giving legal advice or opinions.
Joe Tregerthan, who lost $1 million when Five Star Debenture Nominee Ltd collapsed, was friends with Macdonald for more than 40 years.
He said the subsidiary company - which went into liquidation in November 2007 owing $34 million - was funded by fewer than 250 investors, who were friends, family and clients of the Five Star directors.
Mr Tregerthan was concerned that Macdonald would lead a better lifestyle than many investors because of a "cynical bankruptcy".
He believed many of Macdonald's assets were held in trusts or in the name of his wife. Christine Macdonald is listed as one of the owners of the $1 million home on the North Shore purchased in January 2008.
She is also a shareholder in seven companies and a director of two.
Macdonald is in Rangipo Prison, near Taupo, with fellow director Nicholas George Kirk, 65, who was also jailed in December.
