NEW YORK (AP) - A judge in New York has boosted the prison sentence for an opera-loving philanthropist convicted in a multimillion-dollar fraud.
Federal Judge Richard Sullivan said at a resentencing Thursday that 73-year-old Alberto Vilar (vih-LAHR’) must serve a decade in prison instead of nine years.
The judge said Vilar had interfered with clients trying to recover their money after the fraud was discovered.
He was convicted in 2008 of cheating investors out of $40 million through his San Francisco-based company, Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc.
Vilar gained prominence for donating millions to cultural institutions worldwide, including opera houses.
Forbes magazine estimated his worth at $950 million before technology stocks collapsed in 2000.
The judge also added a year to the five-year sentence originally given to a co-defendant, Gary Alan Tanaka.
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