THE corporate watchdog has notched up a win to protect investors, with the jailing of a Sydney property developer who defrauded fellow worshippers at the Hillsong Church to fund his lavish lifestyle.

Robert Orehek has been jailed for four years and four months, with an 18-month non-parole period after pleading guilty to charges of misappropriating $170,000 of investor funds and another of misappropriating $20,000. Orehek raised more than $20 million from investors, nearly all of whom had lost their money.

The jail sentence comes as a new report recommends abolishing commission-based fees for financial planners, a sector also in the sights of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.