A 60-year-old Jacksonville, Florida man was sentenced in U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Florida late yesterday for wire fraud,conspiracy and attempted murder to 30 years in prison.

According to court documents, 60-year-old Paul S. Kruse and his brother established a sham investment firm in 2010 designed to defraud a number of his clients from his financial advisory service. After establishing the fake firm, Yorkshire Financial Services, Kruse and his brother convinced their clients, a number of whom were retirees, into moving their savings into Yorkshire. Kruse and his brother deceptively told clients that Yorkshire had been in business for more than 30 years, had a staff of experienced securities traders, and traded in a combination of stocks, bonds and currencies appropriate for individual retirement accounts (IRAs). In reality, Kruse did not invest the investors’ funds.

Instead, he used the money to buy luxury cars, home improvements and other personal items. He also made hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cash withdrawals. In total, the court stated that the scheme stole more than $931,844 from 21 clients.

Kruse also had hired a personal assistant in 2011. That assistant witnessed Kruse forging client’s signatures, failing to invest their funds, and his lavish spending of client’s money. The personal assistant took the incriminating documents to the FBI while Kruse was out of town. A short time later, the Yorkshire scam unraveled.

Kruse would voluntarily give a written confession to the FBI admitting his guilt and outlining the fraud scheme.

Then, in 2012, Kruse’s co-conspirator brother committed suicide. In an act of vengence, Kruse decided to have the personal assistant killed because he felt that it was her that caused his brother’s death because of her actions with the FBI. He also wanted her killed to keep her from testifying in his case. He did this while in custody in pre-trial detention

During that same time, Kruse also hired two hitmen to rob and kill two of his former business partners. He had felt that the two former partners had cheated him. Kruse did not realize that the two men that he had hired to kill his personal assistant and two former business partners were in fact undercover federal agents.

In April of 2012, Kruse was indicted by a Florida Grand Jury. On February 11, 2013, Kruse was found guilty by a federal jury in Jacksonville.

In addition to 30 years in prison, Kruse will be on five years of supervised release after his term. He must also pay a money judgement of $897,960.