Betty Ann Rubin has been sentenced to 97 months in prison for her role in an oil and gas limited partnership Ponzi scheme.

Rubin is the final criminal defendant to be sentenced in a massive Ponzi scheme case that arose out of a 1995 enforcement action by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

In 1995, the SEC brought an emergency enforcement action against Rubin, John Judd, Jr., Mark Seigel, and Alexander Kahan, alleging that they conducted a nationwide offering of fraudulent securities issued by KS Resources.

Rubin’s Beverly Hills-based broker-dealer, Lazar Frederick & Company, sold these securities in the form of 29 oil and gas limited partnerships from May 1993 to Dec. 19, 1995.

The Ponzi scheme raised US$42 million and Rubin received US$2.9 million in kickbacks, while defrauding over 1,000, primarily elderly, investors.

Rubin, Judd, Seigel and Kahan consented to permanent injunctions and to pay disgorgement without admitting or denying the commission’s allegations.

Rubin, Judd, Seigel and Kahan were convicted for their roles in this scheme. The court has already sentenced Judd and Kahan to 97 months and 46 months, respectively, for their roles in the fraud. Seigel committed suicide before sentencing.