Globe-trotting 21-year-old 'set up $10million Ponzi scheme to finance jet-set lifestyle of luxury cars, a life in Rome and an acting career'

A fraudster has been arrested for allegedly scamming investors out of $10million while running an international Ponzi scheme.



Donald R. French Jr first launched the scam when he was just a 21-year-old, and used investors' money to jet around the world and pay off gambling debts, according to FBI officials.



His four-year streak ended this summer when he was arrested in South Africa and extradited to Las Vegas, where he had been caught passing off fraudulent cheques worth $750,000.



Last week the 25-year-old was transported to Florida to stand trial on federal wire fraud charges over the alleged Ponzi scheme, according to the Sun-Sentinel - and now he could face 20 years in prison.



Arrested: Donald French, pictured left after his arrest for passing bad cheques and right in 2008, is accused of running a $10million international Ponzi scheme



French founded D3 Capital Management LLC in 2008, with an office address in an expensive neighbourhood of Boca Raton.

The hedge fund advertised itself as 'a premier provider of global investment management', and offered investors huge returns by ploughing their money into foreign currency, energy projects and emeralds.

WHERE THE MONEY WENT

$1.48million spent on his debit card

$1.28million withdrawn in cash

$450,000 gambling debt at Cosmopolitan casino in Las Vegas

$62,000 to hire luxury cars

However, earlier this year French apparently admitted to FBI agent Daniel Szczepanski that he relied on 'his ability to lie and manipulate people' to attract funding.



$10million flowed in to the fund over four years - even though its office was nothing more than a mailing adress and telephone number.



One investor was persuaded to commit nearly $2million to D3 after French promised her annual returns of 50 per cent on her money, according to Mr Szczepanski.



After she put in $1million, French persuaded her that she could only recover her money by paying in another $1million - and he personally accompanied her to a bank to watch her transfer the money.



Lookalike? French tried to launch an acting career and claimed he looked like megastar Brad Pitt Officials say that almost none of the money went into legitimate investments, and was instead used by French to fund his jet-set lifestyle. He has spent much of the past five years in Rome, where he lives with his fiancée and their three-year-old daughter.

He attempted to launch a film career in Italy - with one casting agency touting him as a Brad Pitt lookalike.

French is believed to have spent over $1million on his gambling debts at the Cosmopolitan casino in Las Vegas.

Haunts: French lived for several years in Rome, left, and has also spent time in South Africa, right

Debts: The alleged fraudster spent hundreds of thousands of dollars at the Cosmopolitan casino in Las Vegas

He also withdrew more than $1million in cash and spent nearly $1.5million on his debit card, according to court records.



And it was his gambling habit that finally brought an end to his alleged scam, as he was forced to plead guilty in August for passing a bad check and sentenced to 30 months in jail.



If convicted of running a Ponzi scheme, he will spend up to two decades in prison.



French's allegedly ill-gotten gains appear to have run out - court records show that he cannot afford to hire a lawyer, and he reports no significant assets or property.