A banned 73-year-old securities investor who bilked his clients of $2 million has been sentenced to two years in prison.

Calgary businessman Robert John Sellars has pleaded guilty to seven violations of the Alberta Securities Act, including making misleading or untrue statements to investors and trading in securities without being registered and without a prospectus.

In 2006, an ASC panel banned Sellars from trading securities or using Alberta securities laws exemptions for two years after it found that he had engaged in an illegal distribution of securities and made a prohibited representation to an investor. An ASC investigation later revealed that during those two years, Sellars had ignored the ASC order and continued to the sell securities.

Along with the prison sentence, Sellars has also been ordered to pay $1,975,000 to the four investors.

Sellars has also been permanently banned from trading in securities, from acting as an officer or director of any issuer and from using Alberta securities laws exemptions.