A loan shark who fleeced a fortune from businessmen across the globe has been ordered to repay £157,000.

Dennis Alexander, 49, was told he must find the cash within 12 months or he will go back to prison for two-and-a-half years.

Alexander was locked up with mastermind George Steen, 56, and David Andrews, 40, in June 2003 after being convicted of fleecing victims out £1.5 million.

The trio offered unbeatable rates on multimillion pound loans to more than 100 customers who planned to create hospitals, hotels and golf courses.

Southwark Crown Court heard that the three men - consumed by greed - advertised their services in the English language press overseas.

Once their victims had been snared, they would fly to the UK to meet the gang in luxury hotels where the deals were arranged. Unwitting clients forked out thousands in administration fees to keep the gang happy but were ultimately fleeced when told to stump up a collateral bond - 40 per cent of the loan value.

When they complained that they did not have the cash, the ruthless crooks told them to read the small print and fled with the money.

The fraudsters conveyed a 'spurious aura of respectability' by name-dropping successful and past customers in the world of finance.

The dupes, mainly from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US, would fly to the UK to meet the brokers, Andrews and Alexander.

They met the pair in the Grand Hotel on Brighton's seafront, before being introduced to the so called loan source - Steen - in the plush Dorchester Hotel in London' West End.

Alexander was jailed for two years and Andrews for five years after denying the allegations in a five-month trial which ended in June 2003.

Co-defendant Steen absconded to the Philippines on a bogus passport but was caught and sentenced to six years behind bars.

His legal team are currently contesting the amount he is said to have made from the scam and where his assets lie.

Andrews has given evidence against Steen, his former criminal boss, by stating how much he was likely to have netted.

Alexander, of Elvin Court, Rottingdean, East Sussex, Steen, of Victoria Road, Darlington, Co Durham and Andrews, of Natewood House, Polegate Road, Hailsham, East Sussex, had all been convicted of one charge of conspiring to defraud between January 1 1996 and June 6 1999.

Another man, Colin Hardy from Redcar, was linked to the fraud but died before the trial.

The confiscation hearing against Steen continues tomorrow.