A Shropshire man is facing further court proceedings to seize his assets after being jailed for his part in a crooked scheme which conned investors out of millions of pounds.

Thiery Doutrepont, of Telford, was “right hand man” to Marc Duchesne, who repeatedly “peddled” lies to wealthy victims, promising their money was safe one minute then secretly squandering it on top-of-the-range cars and other luxuries the next.

The second-hand car dealer, of Huntington, Little Wenlock, was yesterday given two years behind bars.

He admitted three counts of recklessly making a false, misleading or deceptive stat- ement. He asked for 10 simi- lar offences to be considered.

Both Doutrepont, who received about £200,000 in commissions from the investors, and Duchesne will face confiscation proceedings this year.

Michael Gallager, 65, of Walsall, and Edgar Hutton, 64, of Nottingham, admitted carrying out financial activities when not authorised, and were both given 200 hours’ community work and ordered to pay £1,000 costs.

Southwark Crown Court had heard how Duchesne blew £60,000 on the best Hollywood smile cosmetic dentistry could provide, saw £22,000 literally go up in smoke every time he mass-ordered his favourite cigars, frittered away £1 million on “valuable antiques” for his “luxury riverside penthou- se” and wasted a further fortune “flying round the wo- rld” in private executive jets.

The court was told by the time he was caught the fin- ancial cupboard – which sho- uld have been bulging with nearly £15 million from inv- estors – was virtually bare.

Outside court yesterday, case officer Detective Constable Andrew Bonafont, of the Met’s Fraud Squad said: “Marc Duchesne and his associates touted this fictitious scheme across Europe.

“They persuaded investors to part with vast sums of money which Duchesne frittered away on himself in a frenzied year of spending, spiriting much of it away from this country.

“He has shown no remorse for his actions. In fact he believed that he was out of the reach of law enforcement because 95 per cent of the investors did not reside in the UK.

“He made a grave mistake in basing the bank account that received victims’ funds in London. This successful prosecution demonstrates that all those who commit fraud and use London as their base will be pursued vigorously.”