A FORMER nurse-turned-loan shark who conned vulnerable victims out of more than £2million is facing 11 years in jail unless he pays back more than £5million.

Dharam Gopee, 65, of Brightwell Avenue, Westcliff, was issued with a record £5.1 million confiscation order by Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday.

Gopee had been jailed for three-and-a-half years in 2018 after he took possession of 100 homes from around 200 victims because they failed to repay debts each of just a few thousand pounds.

He was convicted of acting as an illegal lender, but was released after serving less than half his sentence.

Now he has been told to pay back the cash or face being locked up for more than a decade.

He was also ordered to pay almost £230,000 to victims, many of whom were vulnerable customers who he loaned money to at high interest rates.

Gopee had made more than £2million from the scam, and it is believed he still owns many of the properties in question.

He has also been banned from leaving the country until he pays back what he owns.

The confiscation is the biggest to be demanded of an individual prosecuted by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Gopee was convicted in the first case of its kind brought by the City watchdog.

Mark Steward, Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA, said: “Mr Gopee’s offending has caused substantial harm to vulnerable consumers.

“He has defied court orders in continuing to offend in one of the worst cases of contempt of court seen by the FCA.

“Together with his jailing, this order seeks to deprive him of all his ill-gotten gains and to compensate victims.

“He runs the risk of a very significant additional jail term if he fails to comply with these orders.”

Gopee also continues to be subject to a serious crime prevention order, preventing him from undertaking further money lending for 5 years.

The charges dated from between August 17, 2012 and December 16, 2016. Gopee did previously hold a license as a credit lender until he lost it in 2012. He then continued to trade through a network of 20 companies. Gopee was originally jailed in February 2018 at Southwark Crown Court.