Robert Shapiro pled guilty in August to a $1.3 billion real-estate Ponzi scheme.On October 15, the former Woodbridge Group CEO was given the maximum sentence: 25 years in prison.Shapiro and his company defrauded over 7,000 investorsmany of them elderlyover the course of five years, promising that investments would go towards building and buying luxury properties.Instead, Shapiro personally siphoned off between $25 million and $95 million to fuel his "glitzy lifestyle," prosecutors said.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.When developer Robert Shapiro pleaded guiltyin August to leading a $1.3 billion real estate Ponzi scheme, he faced up to 25 years in prison.On Tuesday, a federal court judge sentenced Shapiro to that maximum, closing the criminal chapter on what has been a two-year-long saga surrounding the massive fraud perpetrated by Shapiro's now-defunct Sherman Oaks-based investment firm, Woodbridge Group of Companies.In all, more than 7,000 property investors were defrauded over five years until Woodbridgewent underin late 2017 amid a wide-reachingfederal investigationinto the scheme, the government said in a release announcing the sentencing.The majority of the prison sentence20 yearsis for defrauding those investors, and for committing wire and mail fraud. The 61-year-old was sentenced to an additional five years for failing to pay $6 million in taxes owed between 2000 and 2005.To raise money for the fraud, Woodbridge Group promised investorsmany of them elderlythat the cash would go toward building and buying luxury properties that would yield high returns. Instead, Shapiro and the company bought those properties themselves through a web of legal entities to obscure ownership.Woodbridge bought hundreds of millions of dollars worth of properties and developmentsites in Los Angelesand across the country. Itpaid out investors using cash from new investors in a classic Ponzi scheme arrangement. Shapiro himself siphoned off between $25 million and $95 million to fuel his glitzy lifestyle, prosecutors said. The case against him took place in Miami, as did the sentencing.Lavish lifestyleAt least 2,600 Woodbridge investors put their retirement savings into the firm, totaling $400 million, according prosecutors. Shapiro personally spent at least $3.1 million of that money on travel and charter planes, $6.7 million on a home and another $2.6 million on renovations, $1.8 million paying off personal income taxes, and $672,000 on vehicles., the government said.Shapiro and his wife agreed to forfeit a massive trove of luxury items they purchased with misappropriated funds, including artworks by Picasso and other artists, a 603-bottle wine collection, and several pieces of diamond jewelry.While the criminal case against Shapiro is over, independent managers are in charge of selling off the rest ofWoodbridge's assetsto recoup money for defrauded investors.Shapiro is also on the hook to pay the Security and Exchange Commission$120 millionas part of a civil settlement with the agency.Federal law enforcement continues to pursue claims against other Woodbridge executives. Investors have sued for compensation from at least one bank,Comerica Bank, that held Woodbridge accounts.SEE ALSO:A Florida company must pay $1 billion for defrauding thousands of elderly people in a Ponzi schemeDON'T MISS:Luxury cars, private jets, and piles of cash: Warren Buffett inadvertently funded the lavish spending of a couple accused of running an $800 million 'Ponzi-type' schemeJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: Stewart Butterfield, co-founder of Slack and Flickr, says 2 beliefs have brought him the greatest success in life
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