Wheeler-dealer Dominic Nardone seemed to have the Midas touch when it came to trading in foreign currency.

The 39-year-old silver-tongued company boss appeared so successful he could splash out £200,000 on a villa in Thailand, another £14,000 on a lavish wedding in the Far East...and spent £10,000 on first class flights and holidays!

But now a judge has heard how the lavish lifestyle was funded not by profits, but by investors who ended up losing more than £500,000.

One person trusted Nardone so much he allowed him to use his life savings of £110,000 which had been set aside as a pension pot.

Judge Adele Williams told how she had read personal impact statements from some of the betrayed victims which had made “sad and harrowing reading”.

Now the boss of Trading Knowledge, which operated from Northdown Road in Margate, has been exposed as a fraudster and a liar.

In truth, Nardone, whose wife still lives in their luxury villa in Thailand, never had the approval from the Financial Standards Authority to use investors money on the foreign exchange markets.

And, we can reveal his background wasn’t in trading capital, but as a manager at a local M&S branch....before working at the Co op!

Now Nardone, who admitted three offences of fraud and money laundering, has been sent to prison for six years after a judge heard how he ripped off 28 people – including close friends.

His lawyer told Canterbury Crown Court how in 2009 Nardone began dabbling successfully in the foreign exchange market and then set up Trading Knowledge.

But prosecutor Martin Paltengh revealed that by June 2010 it became fraudulent and he used cash from new customers to pay previous investors – known as a Ponzi scheme.

Judge Adele Williams told him: “You were the sole director of your company which you began in May 2009 and traded until September 2014.

“It started as a genuine business with you investing in foreign exchange but by June2010 you then began trading on behalf of investors – yet you were not authorised to do that by the FSA.

“Yet you told at least three of them that you were FSA regulated.”

She added that at first Nardone was successful and on the back of that attracted other investors “some of whom were vulnerable because they invested their life savings.”

But the company boss kept no proper records of his deals and his scheme became fraudulent when he made “unwise” transactions – and despite receiving £600,000 he only ever invested £200,000.

The judge said: “You began misappropriating funds and moving money abroad, buying a villa, paying for a wedding in Thailand and spending £10,000 on First Class flights and holidays.

“About £214,000 was transferred to Thailand and Australia and it was only in June 2013 that investors had started challenging you.

“Yet you arranged a social event in London on June 23 and brazened it out. By April the following year you accepted in an email that you had done things wrong but again tried to brazen it out and were still asking to carry on trading!”

The court heard that Nardone, now of Westfield Road, Margate, was eventually arrested on September 8 2015 but refused to answer police questions – and has since been declared bankrupt.

Now some of the investors have set up a trust to attempt to recover some of the missing money from Thailand.

He now faces a financial investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act to recover some of the money.