A Mosgiel man who discovered after his retirement he had lost more than $100,000 in a $2.8 million Ponzi scheme run by a Dunedin lawyer says the betrayal by a man he trusted felt like ''being stabbed in the back''.
''That was the worst aspect. It was like a family member stealing something from you.''
The man, who asked not to be identified, said on top of that, John David Milne had not shown any remorse.
''There's been no apology, nothing.''
The man and his wife were taken in by Milne, a 79-year-old lawyer who pleaded guilty in the Christchurch District Court on Monday to 34 charges laid by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
The SFO said Milne's activity had all the hallmarks of a Ponzi scheme, as he had been paying investors from funds received for investment from other clients.
Victims, most of whom are from Dunedin, can now start the process of trying to get their money back, but face plenty of hurdles before that might happen.
The man said he first got involved with Milne when he used him for property conveyancing, when the lawyer worked from an office in the Exchange area.
''He was our solicitor for probably 15 years from 1998. I had a lot of respect for him. He did the job admirably; we had no cause not to trust him.''
The man began using Milne as his personal solicitor, and even referred family members to him.
Milne was ''old school'', and had no computer at that time, but did use a fax machine.
Eventually, the man sold a property, Milne ''got wind of this'', and said: ''I can probably get you a good interest rate.''
The plan was Milne would put the money in a trust account, and use it from time to time for other clients' bridging finance, or when they needed extra for buying a house.
''We thought that seemed fair and reasonable, and we totally trusted him. We trusted him as much as you would a bank manager.''
The man said it was important to understand ''he [Milne] approached everybody''.
''We didn't go to him. I'd never go to a lawyer with money saying: 'Here, invest this for me'.''
The rate of return was ''2% or 3% above bank interest''.
At the same time, people needing help with bridging loans, for instance, could borrow money more cheaply.
''I remember saying to him, some years into it, how safe and satisfied I was I had that money with him, because all around, everywhere else, there were all these things going on with finance companies.''
The man told the lawyer: ''I rest easy, John, because I know you're looking after that money for us.''
Things had showed signs of coming unstuck in 2012.
''Interest payments'' had been banked regularly, but that became more erratic.
''During that last year, things were obviously turning to custard, because he rang me and asked me if I'd take a reduction in interest rates, and I said: 'No'.
''The whole thing was a Ponzi scheme.''
The man had no idea what Milne used the money for.
''John was always away on a Monday; he'd take a three-day weekend. We always wondered what he got up to. He's never admitted to anything. It is a mystery.''
The Mosgiel couple said that they had planned for retirement for ''some time'', and would get through the loss of money, but not without pain.
''The income that we were getting each month was gone, and the capital was gone, and that had quite a devastating effect.
''That's a lot of money to lose suddenly. Very, very painful, and pretty depressing.''
The man said he believed victims should not be barred from receiving money from New Zealand Law Society fidelity funds because of a ban on payouts for people who invested money.
''The money was never invested - it was stolen.''
In all 22 cases, the man said, nobody had approached Milne to invest - instead, he had gone to them.
