Breifne O'Brien

Breifne O'Brien is an Irish socialite businessman and rogue financial advisor. A key figure in Ireland's Celtic Tiger, he has been called "Ireland's Bernie Madoff". His residences included a lavish family home in Glenageary, an apartment on Dalkey’s Vico Road and a golfing villa in Barbados. He drove an Aston Martin DB7 and had close on 100 bank accounts. After admitting in 2008 to his investors—many of whom were close friends—that he had taken millions of Euros of their money to fund a lavish lifestyle and could not pay it back, he was investigated by the Garda Síochána Fraud Squad. He has since been bailed out by his mother and is on trial over his part in an investment fraud. He pleaded guilty to a sample of charges brought against him involving sums totalling more than ten million euros. On October 8, 2014, O'Brien was sentenced to a seven-year term of imprisonment. O'Brien appealed the sentence; the Court of Appeal denied the appeal in December 2015. In July 2016, the High Court adjudicated O'Brien as bankrupt.

His family home is Carrigrohane Castle in Cork, Ireland. His father Leo was a businessman and his younger brother is RTÉ rugby commentator Daire O'Brien. Married to Fiona Nagle, he was renowned for hosting lavish parties at his home.