"As far as the investors and shareholders are concerned, there is no joy whatever, no satisfaction from any retribution - all we can hope for is that the ground is now cleared for some kind of class action to be taken."
Lombard's receiver, John Fiske of PricewaterhouseCoopers, said he was considering civil proceedings against the directors after the criminal convictions opened the door for secured investors seeking compensation, Radio New Zealand reported.
Last month, the four directors were found guilty of making untrue statements about Lombard's position in its offer documents in December 2007.
During the eight-week trial of the directors, evidence was given that Lombard sales staff were still soliciting investment from members of the public in March 2008, less than a month before the decision by the firm's trustees to call in receivers.
The Lombard collapse, one of many finance company failures between 2007 and 2009, left 4400 investors owed $127 million.
Mr Wah said the foundations for a class action suit to get back their money was all he wanted from yesterday's sentencing. He was not expecting the four Lombard directors to be giiven prison sentences.
"Fairness doesn't enter into this - of course it's not fair ... It's useless for looking for reparation from old men.
"What I went there looking for was the judicial decision to lay a platform so that a class action could be taken to recover further money for the investors. That's what I was looking for and I think that was probably achieved."
It was Mr Wah who first called for Graham's knighthood to be stripped following the guilty verdicts for the directors in February.
At the time, he said the knighthood gave Graham a sense of integrity, which was one of the reasons he chose to invest with the company.
Last night, Mr Wah said Graham should turn in his knighthood - a gesture he would value more highly than an apology.
"An apology would be the ultimate in empty gestures. Rather than an apology, I think [there is an] opportunity for Sir Douglas to make a gesture to the investors and to the public of New Zealand. He should voluntarily hand in his knighthood. It shouldn't be a case of the Prime Minister being put to the unpleasant task of having to strip it."
It was not appropriate for a convicted criminal to be known as "Sir", Mr Wah said.
A spokesman for Prime Minister John Key, who is the only one able to strip knighthoods, said he was unable to comment on matters relating to Graham until any possible appeals had been dealt with.
At sentencing, Paul Davison, counsel for Graham and Bryant, said they were honest and honourable men who had applied themselves diligently to the task as directors.
Their actions were not those of criminals and their appearance before the court was the "ultimate humiliation" for them.
Jeffries' counsel, David Hurd, said his client was a "good and decent man" who had lived a good and decent life.
Having a conviction greatly outweighed any sentence the court could hand down, he said.
The receivership of Lombard was a tragedy for the company and its investors and there were no winners.
He said Jeffries was devastated by the collapse and was full of remorse for investors' losses.
However, the collapse of Lombard was due to the international credit crunch, not because it was poorly managed or was directed irresponsibly, Mr Hurd said.
Graham left court flanked by his wife and former fellow National minister Max Bradford. He refused to comment and his wife said "my husband won't be commenting".
Graham's son, Carrick, told the Herald he was "incredibly proud" of his father.
"Nothing will stop me fully supporting and loving him."
