A Scottsdale, Ariz., man was sentenced to more than four years in prison and was ordered to pay more than $12 million in restitution for defrauding a western Arkansas investor, a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Michael Columbia, 27, was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville after pleading guilty last year to one count of wire fraud. He also was fined $2,500.

Columbia was accused of accepting a customer’s bond, valued about $1 million, as collateral for the customer to obtain a loan through Columbia’s company, StoneRock Capital Group LLC, the news release said.

Columbia then sold the bond without the customer’s authorization and pocketed a portion of the proceeds.

Arkansas, Pages 14 on 05/02/2014