A Grand Rapids, Mich., financial advisor was sentenced to nine years in prison for cheating his clients out of $5.7 million.

Martin T. Wegener, 44, formerly a registered representative of New England Securities, used the money to support his lavish lifestyle and to support various business ventures, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan.

He cheated his clients by sending out bogus account statements that reflected investments and balances that did not exist between 2007 and 2010, U.S. Attorney Donald A. Davis says. Wegener was sentenced in federal district court following an investigation by the FBI and the SEC. He was also ordered to pay $5.7 million in restitution.

"Fraud committed by licensed registered representatives such as the investment scam executed by this defendant fractures the trust citizens placed in our financial systems," Davis says.