Comment: They thought he had it all – but really it was all a lie

The wedding of Breifne O'Brien and Fiona Nagle at Carrigrohane Castle in Co Cork.

Dearbhail McDonald

ON December 10, 2008, two debonair financiers broke down to family members in Manhattan, New York, and confessed their lives were a mirage.

One man was Bernie Madoff, the other was Breifne O'Brien - though the scale of the Ponzi schemes operated by Madoff and O'Brien are worlds apart.