A Soho sex boss and a self-styled lord jailed for trying to pull of the world’s biggest theft will appear in court facing a confiscation order for their assets.

David Nash, from Shelby Road, Durrington, who owned a chain of sex shops, and Hugh Rodley teamed up with a gang of international cyber raiders targeting a £229 million Japanese bank fortune.

Nash, 47, was jailed for three years and Rodley, whose aristocratic pretensions were based on a manorial title, for eight years in March last year.

Police say they presided over a complicated array of overseas front companies and accounts to launder the hoped-for fortune.

If granted, the confiscation order could see them forced to hand over money if they cannot prove they earned it legally.

The pair were part of a gang which used pirated software to "corrupt" the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation's system, record the keystrokes of staff and reveal user names and passwords.

That provided access to massive holdings of such major companies as Toshiba International, Nomura Asset Management, Mitsui OSK Lines and Sumitomo Chemical UK.

Repeated attempts followed to wire up to 13.9 million euros at a time around the world. Crucial last minute "field-logging errors" prevented the transfers going through.

Had they succeeded, the theft would have topped the record books, dwarfing the £53 million Tonbridge cash heist and even a £141 million robbery in Baghdad.

Rodley, from Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, was convicted of conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to transfer criminal property between January 1 and October 5, 2004. Nash, was convicted of the second charge.

Three other gang members admitted conspiracy to steal.