He duped friends, friends of friends and his own father. He faked an email from an Italian shipping merchant.

The court heard that Breifne O’Brien’s deceptions first began to come to light when an allegation was made during civil proceedings in 2008 and Mr Justice Peter Kelly referred the matter to the Garda fraud squad.

Businessman Breifne O’Brien used money stolen from investors to pay for an extension to his house, a new car for his wife, and the stamp duty on new properties, in a multi-million euro Ponzi scheme, a court has heard.