I don't think this is true, though, is it?. Jeffrey Skilling got a 24 year sentence for his involvement in the Enron collapse. Ken Lay would have gotten even more but for the fact that he died before he could be sentenced.

Bernie Madoff got 150 years in prison for his Ponzi scheme.

All three of those guys are the very definition of wealthy and powerful, and there are endless other, albeit smaller, examples.