Sutherland, 43, spent a few years away from the big screen on a rodeo ranch in Montana.

“I got into roping mainly because I was up in Montana,” he said in an interview last year. “I moved up there to ski, and I didn’t know what to do in the off-season. And if I don’t have something to do, I get myself in a lot of trouble,” he added.

Well trouble found him in the form of a suspected Ponzi schemer and cattle dealer, Michael Wayne Carr. Sutherland was put in touch with Carr through a financial adviser for a deal buying cattle in Mexico to sell for a profit in the US.

According to court documents, Sutherland invested $550,000 in the scheme and within 30 days of the initial investment, Carr wired him $685,000 – a $130,000 profit.

Allegedly  no cows were ever actually purchased. Prosecutors say the money was used by Mr Carr to pay off a huge debt. If convicted on all charges, he faces 18 years in prison.