Many of Smith's victims were elderly

Philip Smith, 49, formerly of Gaddum Road in Bowdon, Greater Manchester, pleaded guilty to offences including theft, forgery and money laundering.

The court heard how Smith targeted the elderly and vulnerable, and used people's credit cards for betting.

Judge Peter Lakin, sentencing, said he was a "callous, manipulative and thoroughly dishonest man".

Smith conned at least 50 victims - many of them elderly - and gambled away at least �2m on the internet. One woman in her 80s lost more than �200,000.

Philip Smith was a man driven by greed, selfishness and ultimately desperation Det Con John Ashington

Passing sentence at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on Monday, Judge Lakin told Smith his clients had put their trust in him as a financial adviser.

"You breached that trust placed in you in a cold and calculated way," he said.

"You deliberately targeted elderly and vulnerable people. Being the consummate fraudster you are, you drew them into a web of deceit and conned them out of a substantial amount of money.

"This was dishonesty on a truly breathtaking scale."

Smith had admitted 49 counts of theft, five of money laundering, two of false accounting and three forgeries at a hearing in September.

The court heard that he sent the money to offshore bank accounts and lived a lavish lifestyle on the proceeds of his crimes.

Many clients were allowed to stay at Smith's villa in Spain

Some of those he conned had known him for more than 20 years, including his own brother.

Many stayed with him in his holiday homes in North Wales or the Costa del Sol - paid for with the money he stole from them.

Smith pleaded guilty to stealing almost �1.8m over a 15-year period, though police believe he took at least another �500,000 from his clients.

He used at least 70 credit cards belonging to his clients to make online bets worth �2 million and siphoned off at least �500,000 of this into his own account.

The rest was lost or used to refund the cards of some victims.

Smith's sentencing followed a long and complex investigation by Greater Manchester Police.

The force believes it was one of the biggest cases of theft by an individual it has ever investigated.

Det Con John Ashington, who worked on the investigation for 18 months, said: "Philip Smith was a man driven by greed, selfishness and ultimately desperation.

"He has left not only financial chaos and devastation in his wake, but also dozens of decent and hard-working people feeling shocked, shattered, betrayed and angry.

"I have seen at first hand the misery and distress that Smith has caused and I sincerely hope I do not have to deal with another case like this ever again."