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Footy fans scammed out of more than $800,000 have told a Melbourne court of their despair and "total embarrassment" at being sucked into a bogus investment scheme. Carrum Downs man Douglas Johnston, 75, along with his wife Maureen, convinced friends they met through the Collingwood Football Club to invest with them, but instead used the money to pay off credit cards and for new investor deposits. Victoria's County Court was on Tuesday told Johnston faced jail time after a jury convicted him earlier this month of nine counts of obtaining a financial advantage by deception. He defrauded five people, including two couples, of $815,000 in what prosecutor Catherine Fitzgerald called a "callous" and "exploitative" scheme, running between January 2010 and November 2013. One couple gave the Johnston's $720,000, purportedly for property investments in Melbourne and the US, court documents showed. In reality, more than $240,000 of the five investors' funds was used to pay off credit card debts, more than $100,000 was withdrawn as cash and more than $45,000 transferred to Maureen Johnston's bank account. While the Johnstons were defrauding their friends, they were members of Crown Casino's loyalty club and Douglas Johnston gambled away more than $422,181. In court on Tuesday, Ms Fitzgerald read statements from the scheme's victims, including one who said it had left her "completely distrustful of other people". "I've lost many friends because I withdrew into myself out of total embarrassment and despair," the woman wrote. She felt enduring shame from being manipulated. Another victim wrote "we used to go to the football all the time" but "we haven't been since this happened". "I will never trust anyone with my money ever again." The court was told Douglas Johnston had been jailed for a similar scheme in 2002. In December last year, his wife Maureen was jailed for five-and-a-half years after admitting to scamming victims out of more than $1 million, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission said. Some of that money was spent gambling at Melbourne's Crown Casino, ASIC also said. Ms Fitzgerald on Tuesday asked Judge Wendy Wilmoth to give Douglas Johnston a harsher penalty than his wife, who must serve a non-parole period of two years. Barrister Jo Swiney accepted Johnston faced jail time but said it would mean he could no longer supply his incarcerated wife, who has serious health issues, with medical assistance. "That weighs very heavily on him," the barrister said. Douglas Johnston was remanded in custody to be sentenced on June 4. Australian Associated Press

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