A New Jersey-based investment advisor has been sentenced to 168 months in prison for defrauding investors of more than $11.5 million over 13 years by soliciting investments in a fictitious investment program, according to court documents.

Sandra Venetis, 60, owner of Systematic Financial Associates Inc., previously pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud and one count of transacting in criminal property.

Venetis, of Whitehouse Station, N.J., entered her guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano, who also imposed the sentence Wednesday in Trenton, N.J., federal court.

Venetis admitted to using investors' funds to pay the operating expenses of Systematic Financial Associates and using new investor funds to make principal and interest payments to existing investors in Ponzi scheme fashion. As a result of her solicitations, approximately 114 investors sent approximately $16.7 million to Venetis.

Venetis also admitted she stole clients' money to fund her own lavish lifestyle, using their investments to pay for gambling debts as well as trips to Alaska, Italy, France, India and the Caribbean. She also admitted misappropriating investments to pay her monthly mortgage, property taxes and other personal expenses.

In addition to her prison term, Judge Pisano sentenced Venetis to three years of supervised release and ordered her to pay $11,579,781 in restitution to the victims of her crime.

The Securities and Exchange Commission had previously charged Venetis with stealing $11 million from clients through a Ponzi scheme she ran over the past 13 years, preying on clients who were retired or unsophisticated about investments.

Venetis told investors that she would use their money to fund loans to doctors that would be backed by Medicare reimbursement payments to those doctors, SEC officials said in its complaint.

"Venetis abused her position of trust to target older investors who were the most vulnerable to her egregious lies and misrepresentations," said Bruce Karpati, co-chief of the SEC's Asset Management Unit. "The SEC's enforcement action and the settlement reached ensure that she will never work in the securities industry again."

The SEC's original complaint also sought to recover assets from three other defendants who had gained from Venetis' activity: Jennifer Venetis (Venetis' daughter); Kevin Persley (Venetis' brother); and Venetis LLC (an entity owned and controlled by Venetis).

Venetis had agreed to a settlement with the SEC that is pending court approval, orchestrated the scheme through the sale of phony promissory notes, which she told clients were tax-free and FDIC-insured and would earn annual interest of 6% to 11% per year, according to the SEC.

In addition to Systematic Financial Associates, which she founded, Venetis also ran the scheme through two of her other firms: Systematic Financial Services LLC, an accounting and tax preparation firm, and Systematic Financial Services Inc., an entity Venetis created to conduct the fraudulent offerings, according to the SEC.

Venetis and her firms have agreed to settle the SEC's charges and consent to a court order that freezes their assets and requires monetary payments including financial penalties to be determined at a later date. Venetis also agreed to an SEC administrative action that bars her from future association with any investment advisor or broker-dealer, according to the SEC.

--Jim McConville