A New York based money manager, Alberto Vilar, who was convicted of fraud in 2008, was, on Friday, slapped with 9 years of imprisonment. The man had made huge amounts of money during the dot. com tech stock boom and sent out millions of dollars worth of donations to arts facilities, educational institutions and hospitals.

Also, a Manhattan Federal Court sentenced Vilar's business partner, Gary Tanaka, to jail time of 5 years. Vilar and Tanaka had joined hands to establish and run the now-defunct Amerindo Investment Advisers Inc.

"I deeply regret any inconvenience our 14,000 clients might have suffered. Only five clients lost money and I am more than 95 percent confident they will be paid", said Vilar.

"Our documentation was lax and that got us into trouble. I'm sorry for what happened", Tanaka added.

The partners were placed under arrest in 2005, and slammed with charges of defrauding over a million dollars from investors. At the height of its success, Amerindo had $10 Billion worth of funds under management.