Calgary man involved in multimillion-dollar investment scam gets four years

CALGARY – A Calgary man has been sentenced to four years in prison for a multimillion-dollar investment scam.

Robert Sellars, who is 76, pleaded guilty to fraud earlier this year for bilking 350 mostly Calgary-area investors of almost $27 million.

Sellars used his contacts from 50 years in the insurance business to attract clients to a new company, which eventually went into bankruptcy.

He had promised annual returns of 15 to 18 per cent and as high as 36 per cent.

The Crown and defence made a joint submission asking for the four-year term and pointed out that Sellars had not been living a lavish lifestyle.

Provincial court judge Catherine Skene also ordered Sellars to repay nearly $10 million to investors, but acknowledged she had seen no indication he would be able to do so.