Former Billabong chief executive Matthew Perrin has been sentenced to eight years in jail for fraud over the forging of his then-wife’s signature to access more than $13 million from the Commonwealth Bank.

In the District Court in Brisbane today, Judge Julie Dick said the bank was still owed about $9 million and that Perrin had shown little remorse for his crimes.

The 44-year-old will be eligible for parole in late 2020.

The court was told that in 2008 he forged his wife’s signature on bank loan documents, which were used to pay off large debts that had accumulated from failed business deals.

Perrin had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

He admitted to signing his wife’s name on bank documents, but claimed he had her permission.

The former multi-millionaire surf wear boss committed the offences after a series of failed investments left him facing financial ruin.

A jury found him guilty last year after a day and a half of deliberation.

The trial had heard Perrin and his then-wife, Nicole Bricknell, netted about $60 million from their stake in Billabong when it was publicly floated in 2000, and lived in an $8 million Gold Coast mansion.

But their fortune evaporated after Perrin’s investments in a Chinese supermarket franchise soured, leaving him owing tens of millions of dollars to creditors.

He was eventually declared bankrupt in 2009.