A central Alberta man behind an elaborate fraud — spanning five years and tricking dozens of people out of almost $3 million in total — has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

Dane Skinner, 60, was convicted of fraud over $5,000 and money laundering earlier this year for a fraudulent investment scheme he ran from 2007 to 2013. Skinner was arrested in 2018, with RCMP saying the offences took place in the central Alberta town of Lacombe, just north of Red Deer.

The Red Deer Court of King's Ben…