Minkow gets five years for Lennar shares fraud

Barry Minkow, a former Wall Street con artist who went on to build a reputation as an anti-fraud fighter, was sentenced to five years in prison Thursday for a securities swindle targeting U.S. homebuilder Lennar Corp .

As part of his sentence, Minkow, 45, was also ordered by a Florida judge to pay $583.6 million in restitution to Lennar for his confessed role in spreading lies about the Miami-based company that caused its stock price to plummet in January 2009.

He used the misinformation to trade in Lennar shares for personal benefit, prosecutors said.