When fraudster Vidar Lunoe is eventually jailed there will be widespread celebrating in some of the swankiest houses in the island.

The dual nationality Norwegian/British man insinuated himself into some of the richest homes in Bermuda, embezzling thousands of dollars.

But earlier this month Lunoe's gamble came to an abrupt halt in a case dubbed by Acting Senior Magistrate Carlisle Greaves as "like a mini Enron".

He faces a long sentence after pleading guilty to three counts of forgery and three counts of uttering false documents.

Lunoe, 37, there are 40 similar offences to be taken into consideration.

During his trial Prosecutor Cindy Clarke told the court that Lunoe had worked at Balmoral Group Investment and Eagle Star Investment, but that another company he ran, Royal Scandinavia did not exist.

One investor lost more than $100,000 to the smooth-talking fraudster she first met five years ago at a Coral Beach tennis tournament.

She said: "He was very friendly, easy going and charming. He did everything well.

"He was good at dancing and danced with everybody. It's like he trained to be a conman. He didn't talk about investments to start with. We played tennis and got friendly and then he said we should talk about investments with no strings attached.

"He came around the house and showed me the literature and he said we'll put a little bit into this and a little bit into that."

She took the bait but became suspicious about the huge profits Lunoe claimed her investments were making and showed the statements to experts.

The woman, who wished to protect her identity, said: "They thought it wasn't possible that it was making 30 to 40 percent.

"I asked him why it was going up so much, (that) no one else was doing so well."

But statements sent direct from Eagle Star, who he claimed to be representing, told a different story.

"He said they had got it wrong," the woman explained, adding that new forged statements would then arrive from Lunoe. Then he came up with a new ploy, offering to switch the money to Schroeders.

"He said I would get nine percent but I never did. Someone pointed out that the literature didn't look real, there were spelling mistakes.

"He had obviously forged that too. Schroeders had never heard of him. I was getting very, very nervous."

"He said `Don't you trust me?'. He was an absolute crook but he was so charming.

"I would be worried but he would come over and explain things and I would trust him.

"Although he was from Norway he had no accent, in fact he had a slight Northern English accent."

She remembers Lunoe as living the high life on the cash and spinning a rich fantasy life.

She said: "He said he was going to LA to make movies. He was always going to Malaga but he wouldn't come back when he was supposed to.

"He would pay $300 for a charity dinner ticket but he wouldn't always come. But I think he liked to mix with people with money. He would always pay cash. He would sponsor my husband for charity rides for $1,000, he would just peel off the bills."

Other friends remember him as always picking up the tab during late night drinking sessions in Front Street.

The source said she would also bump into Lunoe networking at tennis gatherings in Europe. "He would fly off anywhere at the drop of a hat. Maybe there are more people involved. It could be a huge ring of people."

"Apparently he has a clean record and has never been caught before. I hope they keep him behind bars and freeze his assets."

Now she wonders whether she will ever see her money again.

She said: "It could be anywhere. He probably has a number of Swiss bank accounts."

However it was not only the rich elite that Lunoe fleeced. The Royal Gazette understands he conned a house cleaner out of hard-earned savings held for her children's education.

The source even let out an apartment opposite BUEI to Lunoe, before he moved to a $5,000 a month apartment in Morgan's Road, Warwick.

She said: "He had massive phone bills, $5,000 a time."

Lunoe also kept up flats in Las Vegas and London. One former friend of Lunoe told The Royal Gazette that Lunoe ironically made a great play about the importance of integrity in a relationship. The caller said: "He always insisted honesty was the most important thing."

One businesswoman who did some secretarial work for Lunoe said: "He was quite arrogant, a lot of people felt that about him. We did quite a bit of work for him but he refused to pay.

"This went on for about a year and then we called one of his clients and he paid the next day. He probably didn't want problems over a small bit of money to get in the way of the bigger kill with them."

Tennis enthusiast Johnny Moore played tournaments with Lunoe and shared post match beers with him.

He said: "With hindsight he was the consummate con-artist, you would trust him with anything, except perhaps money. Maybe he figured out I wasn't rich enough.

"I was astonished to hear about this. My first reaction was that I couldn't believe it but as you ask around you start to believe it. He moved in moneyed circles - those were his targets.

"He told me he was in investments and that's all I needed to know. He went off the island from time to time but that's normal in international business.

"He was a nice, happy charming guy and a good tennis player. Everyone that I knew that knew him really liked him."

Southampton Princess Tennis Pro Mark Cordeiro also knew Lunoe through tennis circles and nearly invested in a life-insurance policy with him but is now grateful he had second thoughts.

He said: "At that time we weren't in the financial situation to do that, it was a rather large some of money. I feel extra relieved now. I feel sorry for those who signed up for it.

"It's a complete shock, he seemed a super guy and genuine but obviously phoney as hell now I think about it. He was very low key, encouraging and charming. I don't think you would find anyone would say much bad about him other than the obvious."

"He was in the money crowd and had contacts around the island. He came in here about a month or two ago with a brand new sports car which he was showing off at the tennis shop.

"He was always on an off the island but he didn't talk about where he went. He was in with the moneyed groups and would go yachting down to the islands."