Kenneth Starr, the financial advisor to the wealthy who pleaded guilty to fraud last year, has been sentenced by a Manhattan federal court to 90 months in prison.

Starr, who worked as a financial planner for numerous clients including high net worth businessmen and celebrities, was charged with a $30 million fraud last May. He was indicted in June 2010 and later pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and investment advisor fraud.

He operated through the companies he controlled, Starr & Company and Starr Investment Advisers, collectively known as Starr & Co. Using these vehicles, he managed his clients’ finances and bills, advised them on taxes, and invested on their behalf.

According to the latest statement from the US Attorney’s Office, “between 2005 and 2010, Starr participated in fraudulent schemes that involved more than $33 million in actual or intended losses”. He did this by channeling client funds to one of two attorney escrow accounts, and then using this money for his benefit. He used these two accounts not only for his “unlawful activities”, but also to disguise the source of the funds.

Starr’s illicit use of the money included a $7.5 million luxury condominium in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, the operating expenses of his companies, client pay-offs when they discovered his theft, and a $4 million legal settlement to a former client. Starr was also found to have made “misstatements and/or material omissions… to fraudulently induce his clients to make certain investments”.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, Starr admitted responsibility for $33,312,782.69 in actual or intended losses and agreed to pay $29,112,782.69 in restitution. He has forfeited the apartment.

"Kenneth Starr pretended he had the Midas touch, but he was in reality peddling fool's gold. Today's sentence is just and appropriate for the audacious fraud he perpetrated on many victims. It sends a strong message to financial professionals who exploit their positions of trust for their own personal gain that, in the end, it is they who will pay," said Preet Bharara, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York.