David Bowerman, 35, set up a Ponzi scheme in Essex which promised large profits to investors.
The Essex Chronicle reported that over 200 people were caught by the scam, including Manchester City footballer Richard Wright who lost £400,000 in the scheme.
Bowerman also stole over £1m from Peter Stroud, a former chairman of Chelmsford City FC, along with a number of the club’s supporters.
The court heard that he also took £36,000 from his mother Cynthia.
The former mortgage broker handed himself into a police station in 2010 and faces 37 charges in the trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.
Judge David Turner QC remanded Bowerman in custody until he could be sentenced and told the court: “Bail is not appropriate. With the sums of money involved it must be custody.”
