A $17.5 million fall from grace for a man who once worked as a private banker.

Paul Hibbs has been sentenced in the Christchurch District Court to eight years jail, with a minimum non-parole period of four years after fleecing his clients of the huge sum.

Hibbs set up two companies, Cameron Gladstone Investments and Hansa Limited, and issued false investment reports to entice people to trust him with their money.

Serious Fraud Officer Director Julie Read says the sentence reflects the seriousness of the crime.

"Its a fairly substantial amount of money and it completely destroyed the financial wellbeing of these clients."

Julie Read says it's one of the country's bigger ponzi frauds - but the biggest remains David Ross's 115 million dollar scam.