Man in S.F. condo fraud gets 20-year prison sentence

"We are sending a message that white-collar crime is a top priority for this office and will be prosecuted aggressively," Gascon told reporters.

Shah, 48, and four co-conspirators were convicted last year for their brazen scheme, which took control of a woman's three luxury condominiums in San Francisco's tony One Rincon Hill high-rise.

Led by Shah, the conspirators used fake identities and took out loans against the properties and laundered the money through shell companies. The condos were valued at $5.5 million.

"(They were) very sophisticated in what they did," Gascon told reporters.

In September, a jury convicted Shah, who was found guilty of 13 felony counts, including grand theft, money laundering, forgery, filing forged documents, and conspiracy.

San Francisco Judge Charlene Kieselbach then issued a warrant for Shah's arrest after he apparently went on the lam and forfeited his $1 million bail. Shah was eventually taken into custody after being caught a Days Inn in Watsonville, Calif., in October.

On Tuesday, Kieselbach also ordered Shah to pay a $14.1 million fine -- nearly triple the amount taken in the scheme. As a result of being convicted for a white-collar crime, Shah also receives a strike under California's Three Strikes law.

Also Tuesday, co-conspirator Winston Lum was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison and fined $4.4 million.

Jurors found Lum, 48, guilty of six felonies, including grand theft, identity theft, and procuring or offering false or forged instruments for record.

A third defendant, Kaushal Niroula, is serving a life sentence after being convicted of killing a man in an unrelated incident in Riverside County.

A jury hung on charges against a fourth defendant, Melvin Emerich, and a fifth defendant, Grachelle Languban, remains a fugitive at large, prosecutors say.