A fraudster in the UK who took more than ￡44m ($59m) from members of his betting syndicate has received a six-year prison sentence. Over 6,000 people signed up for Mike Stanley’s program that the 68-year-old claimed offered an extremely successful betting formula for horse racing. It started as a legitimate business in 2010 before spiraling into criminality by 2013.

one of the most complex in the history of the force

Kent Police described the investigation into the Chatham resident as one of the most complex in the history of the force, with investigators going through mountains of financial and computer data. The former police officer claimed his system was working when in reality losses were mounting. He used the money from new members to pay others their supposed returns, which is a typical Ponzi scheme move.

Stanley was using the money to fund a luxury lifestyle, purchasing 23 racehorses, a house in Spain, ￡1.6m ($2.1m) worth of cryptocurrency, and other expensive items. Detectives discovered that in one year alone, his gambling losses added up to more than ￡1m ($1.3m).

It all came crashing down when the press published allegations about the syndicate, claiming everything wasn’t as it appeared. Stanley subsequently filed for bankruptcy in early 2019 and was charged with fraud.