The fraudster's wife only learned he had stolen £15 million when armed police arrived at their home.

Hannah David, now a Conservative Party activist and planning consultant, was married to the notorious Ponzi-scheme architect Freddie David until evidence of his criminal actions emerged. She has now spoken about her feelings of betrayal after learning that her husband stole millions to feed his gambling addiction.

“I was lucky that I always worked and I can rebuild my life. I don’t feel like a victim. Freddie did far more harm to others than to me. Nevertheless, what happened caused emotional damage.”

The former Mrs David is now urging the government to take action on online betting. Working with Labour Party MP Caroline Harris, David hopes for changes in the law to ensure red flags are raised when people repeatedly lose large sums of money.

At the height of his gambling addiction Freddie David regularly lost more than 100,000 pounds in online play in a single day and once lost 240,000 pounds in one day. In the course of his fraud he spent 15.6 million pounds on gaming sites between 2005 and 2017.

David was jailed for six years in July 2018 and released in June 2021 after defrauding 55 investors of 14.5 million pounds in a Ponzi scheme.

During the trial the court heard that he used the money to fund his gambling habit, pay for family holidays and cover his children’s schooling.

David’s friends were among the victims. He convinced them that their money was kept in a bank account earning up to eight percent interest a year.

One of his victims was retiree Leon Vinsky, who lost 300,000 pounds to the scam and said he had contemplated suicide but wanted to confront his fraudster in court.

In a victim statement read to the court he said: “When I was about to jump in front of a train, I thought I would be depriving myself of the chance to tell Freddie David in court what he had done to my family.

“Money was going towards buying a flat for our son with special needs. That will no longer happen”.