And although she has lost everything, Thompson still believed, through a Hong Kong "miracle deal", she would be able to return the millions she lost four years ago, according to Mr Lawson. "It wasn't greed that propelled her in this scheme, rather this thrill to succeed," he said. "[The disorder] caused her to act in a way that she believed she could not fail." The former joint owner of Mortgage Miracle misled at least 24 investors from 2007 to 2008 over a non-existant personal investment scheme that centred on the dream of a Mormon village in Canning Vale. As well as three years behind bars, Thompson also faces an almost inevitable excommunication from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, of which she has been a member for 25 years, the court heard.

Prosecutor Adam Ebell laid out an almost unbelievable trajectory of offending in his sentencing submissions, with a large percentage of victims coming from Thompson's own church. Among her victims were two elderly women who went to Thompson for help to sell their homes so they could buy properties next door to each other. She didn't think that anything would go wrong and she just dumped it all [the investors' funds] into her accounts. Thompson kept the money from the sales of the homes leaving one 75-year-old with a "mortgage she cannot pay," Mr Ebell said. Another couple who lost everything to Thompson were forced to sell their 78-acre property and now live in a caravan.

"This has been a long and arduous and heartbreaking process for them," Mr Ebell said. Thompson convinced investors to write cheques out to her in amounts that ranged from $30,000 to $400,000 for Mormonville or other financial services. Those who invested in Mormonville were promised a 17.5 per cent return on their investment, with monthly dividends. What Mormonville would actually involve seemed to vary from case to case - while some people were told about an affordable Mormon village, others were sold a retirement village, a place for first home buyers or a location for single people. But instead of investing the money into a single property investment, Thompson had put the funds into a family trust account or her own business account, the court heard.

She used some of each investor's funds to make dividend payments to other investors and kept the majority to spend on her own personal affairs. Before Mormonville, Thompson was ranked WA's top finance broker based on her earnings. At the peak of her legitimate earning Thompson was receiving $58,000 a month on mortgage trail commissions, Mr Lawson told the court. He said Thompson's problems started when these commissions dried up due to an unrelated investigation. The investigation involved allegations she had falsified loan applications, which proved to be unfounded, but saw her "dumped" by her mortgage aggregator and lose her broker's licence.

Until this point Mormonville had been a genuine dream of Thompson's, Mr Lawson told the court. "She believed it was her mission to develop Mormonville," which she had originally envisioned as a retirement village for Mormons, he said. "She maintains that she did not act in a predatory way." But when Thompson was unable to secure a large 30 to 60 lot block of land in Canning Vale, she instead started buying up smaller lots across Perth, Mr Lawson said. "Soon this concept of a sole retirement village became unattainable," he said.

"She didn't think that anything would go wrong and she just dumped it all [the investors' funds] into her accounts." Then, Mr Lawson said, Thompson took some bad advice and, "it was turning into a Ponzi scheme," something she now accepts. Judge Gillian Braddock said the most serious aspect of Thompson's offending was the "devastating" impact it has had on her victims. "In each instance this was money they could not afford to lose," she said. "These are ordinary people whose lives have been devastated by your conduct."

She said as well as the financial hardships many of Thompson's victims faced, families had also been torn apart with separations and children forced to live with other relatives. Judge Braddock read out an apology letter Thompson had requested be conveyed to those affected by her actions, who packed the Perth District Court on Tuesday. "The guilt I feel is unbearable," Thompson wrote. "I truely intended to help you all and make your lives better. "This result was never meant to happen. "I loved you all."

Judge Braddock said she had "very little confidence" the Hong Kong deal would "come to the rescue". "You need perhaps to be deterred from unrealistic expectations," she said. Follow WAtoday on Twitter