Breifne O'Brien faces up to 10 years for 'classic pyramid scheme'

Ponzi fraudster Breifne O'Brien is to be sentenced for stealing millions of euro from associates at the height of the Celtic Tiger.

The 52-year-old from Cork who is now living on social welfare in Monkstown Grove in Dublin is facing up to 10 years in prison.

Breifne O'Brien stole around €8.5m from close friends and associates in what was described in court as a classic pyramid scheme.

It is claimed that when caught out, he admitted he had been living a lie and told them it was easy to draw suckers in during the boom years – a statement he is adamant he never made.

The socialite businessman would rob Peter to pay Paul by securing large deposits for bogus property, shipping and insurance investments in Ireland, Paris and Hamburg between 2003 and 2008.

The money helped fund an extension at his South Dublin home, his wife's car and an investment property in Barbados.

He is now destitute and living on €188 a week. He is due to be sentenced at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court later this morning.