A Sydney conman who duped investors out of more than $8 million and pretended to be friends with celebrities like former US president Bill Clinton, has been jailed for a maximum of 12 years.

Judge Richard Cogswell spent two hours sentencing Dimitri de Angelis in the NSW District Court on Friday as he detailed the extravagant lifestyle he had fabricated.

Dimitri de Angelis, with actress Sophie Monk.

Justice Cogswell said de Angelis duped potential investors by showing photoshopped pictures of himself with famous people.

"The photographs depicted himself with no lesser persons than Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, His Holiness the Pope John Paul II, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, US presidents George Bush senior, George W Bush and Bill Clinton and Australian prime ministers John Howard and Kevin Rudd," Justice Cogswell told the court.