Rajesh Chimanlal Upadhyaya was jailed in Sydney District Court yesterday afternoon for the systematic fraud of the Emirates Park horse stud near Murrurundi.

The 54-year-old was a former director of the stud and issued fake invoices totalling almost $15 million.

Upadhyaya was originally arrested and charged in Tamworth in 2011, and after four years of legal wrangling, Judge Donna Woodburne yesterday sentenced him to 12 years behind bars with a non-parole period of seven years and nine months.

Judge Woodburne also ordered Upadhyaya to pay $750,000 in compensation to Emirates Park within six months for the losses it sustained.

Yesterday, he was convicted of 11 counts of director defrauding a body corporate and three counts of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage.

The court heard the carefully planned fraud was aggravated because Upadhyaya was in a position of trust, and he denied the charges until he was found guilty by a jury in May.

During the trial, the court was told Upadhyaya was responsible for ordering hay and oats to feed the foals and yearlings at Emirates Park between 2005 and 2010.

Upadhyaya, who had financial interests in two horse feed companies which supplied the farm, charged Emirates Park for tens of thousands of tonnes of oats and hay, which was supposed to be provided by the companies.

The crown maintained the goods were up to 10 times more than what could ever be consumed by horses on the farm, or what was provided.

A significant proportion of the goods invoiced were never actually supplied, but Upadhyaya facilitated the fraud by signing off on several cheques which were then transferred through several accounts into his own pockets.

Upadhyaya will be eligible for release in 2023.