Seattle ? Investors who lost millions of dollars in one of the nation’s largest stock swindles may get back about 20 cents for every dollar they invested, according to court officials.

Most of the roughly 5,000 investors in Znetix Inc. should get the money by midyear, said Michael Grassmueck, a court-appointed receiver overseeing the case. In all, the investors lost an estimated $91 million in what was billed as a chain of innovative fitness centers.

Twelve company insiders have been sentenced or are awaiting sentencing.

Investors were told that Znetix would be selling million-dollar licenses to operate clubs that would combine fitness, health care and medical services. They were told that leading sports and entertainment figures had agreed to buy or license the operations.

But prosecutors said Znetix amounted to a pyramid scheme. By February 2002, it had just $40,000 in assets; the rest of the money had been spent on luxurious homes and cars.