Ian Leaf, who is serving a 12-and-a-half year jail sentence, boasted a £5m Swiss chateau, a private jet, a Porsche and an Aston Martin among his ill-gotten gains.

The 51-year-old was convicted at London's Southwark Crown Court of 13 "breathtaking and audacious" offences of fraudulent trading between 1991 and 1996.

His scam involved real and bogus companies, thousands of fictitious documents, a bank registered on a small South Pacific atoll and a broker's firm which was no more than an accommodation address.

Prosecutors want him to pay back the £55m he actually stole and the £43m it would have earned in interest.