Opera-loving philanthropist Alberto Vilar, who had a home in Beaver Creek, was sentenced today in New York to nine years in prison by a judge who credited his giving spirit but said he wanted to send a message to money managers that fraud will not be tolerated because it can damage confidence in the economy.
U.S. District Judge Richard J. Sullivan also fined Vilar $25,000 and ordered him to pay $21.9 million in restitution and to forfeit more than $22 million.
Vilar, 69, has been imprisoned since soon after a jury convicted him in November 2008 of conspiracy fraud for cheating investors of $40 million through his San Francisco-based company, Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc.
Vilar donated $7 million to rebuild a Beaver Creek theater, which was later named the Vilar Performing Arts Center, and contributed $2 million toward revamping the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail.
In 2001 he pledged $25 million to National Jewish Medical and Research Center, the largest single gift in the institution’s 110 years. The money never came through.
