Their money will come from the balance of bank accounts, a Maserati car and a share of several properties.

The two men were were sentenced in October 2018 at Southwark Crown Court following an investigation by the City of London Police’s Fraud Squad.

Aaron Fay, 32, of no fixed abode, east London, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison and Sudhir Singh Kundi, 39, of Bangors Road South, Iver, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

Mssrs Fay and Kundi have been ordered to pay £172,987 within three months, or face default prison sentences of nine and 18 months respectively, on top of their current sentence.

A third man, Martin Ball, 30, of Galleon Road, Chafford Hundred, who was also convicted in 2018 for his part in the fraud, was awarded a nominal confiscation order at an earlier hearing in June after no assets were identified.

City of London Police detectives found that victims were cold called and pressured to invest. They were told they could make 15-25% profits on diamond investments.

The amount of money paid by victims for an individual diamond ranged from around £3,000 to £21,000 when in reality these diamonds were worth £100-£150 for the lowest quality and £800-£1,200 for the best quality.

After their conviction, confiscation proceedings were instigated by the City of London Police’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

The case was heard at the Royal Courts of Justice earlier in July and a confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act was granted against the two men.

Financial Investigator Andy Morrison, who works in the City of London Police’s Financial Investigation Unit, said: “This was a complex and lengthy investigation involving three dishonest individuals who ruthlessly stole thousands of pounds from victims, by convincing them to invest in low-worth diamonds. 

“While we have not been able to recover all the funds the victims invested, we believe this is a positive result and hope the return of some of their monies will bring closure to them and their families.”

The Fraud Squad first became aware of the boiler room fraud through the City of London Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) after officers attended the premises to respond to a genuine report of burglary by a company called Reco Commodities.