RTÉ broadcaster and former rugby player Donncha O'Callaghan has said he was "ill informed" and blames nobody but himself after losing money through the collapsed investment firm Custom House Capital.
The judge at the Circuit Criminal Court described the conspiracy as a highly organised, systematic, prolific plundering of clients' accounts.
The court heard the offences continued even after the Central Bank and Financial Regulator were alerted in 2009.
Judge Orla Crowe read more than 200 victim impact statements before imposing her sentences.
Speaking on new RTÉ podcast Insights with Sean O’Rourke, Mr O'Callaghan said he should have known better before getting involved and investing money with the business.
"I was probably involved with this time of Celtic Tiger where money was so easy to get ahold of. I think it's a real cop out to say I took bad advice. I was ill informed. That lies with me," he said.
"I took people's experience in certain areas as if 'yeah, that's good enough for me' because he knows it inside out whereas I've learned you have to know it inside out.
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Mr O’Callaghan said that he was "more disappointed with myself than anything else" and that he "should have done more work".
"I should have been more self-aware of not only the type of business and the type of funds I was putting my money into, but also the character of the people.
"For me, it was a massive lesson, a wakeup call. I personally blame no one bar myself."
Mr O’Callaghan said the being "honest and truthful" was important to him and that was the biggest disappointment for him.
"I’ll be honest I was p***ed off. I was at the prime of my career," he added, saying that he was "maxing out my pension contribution… over the course of six years".
He said that it was a hard lesson but a "vital" one.
"You cannot offload responsibility for stuff like that. In a mad way, I had a gut feeling before it. I wish I'd backed it," he said.
"I wish I'd questioned and upskilled and educated myself and character tested the people involved. It's good people you want to be around, it's good people you want to back."
The liquidation of CHC is due to be completed at the end of 2025, 14 years after the company collapsed.
Last week, Judge Crowe said the vast majority of the clients were people who had carefully put aside money for their later years and the impact of these crimes on them had been very significant.
