A former police officer who ran a betting syndicate was jailed for cheating members out of over £44m on Tuesday (24 September).
A British former police officer who ran a betting syndicate was jailed for cheating members out of over £44m on Tuesday (24 September).
Maidstone Crown Court sentenced Mike Stanley to six years’ imprisonment following what Kent Police described as one of the most complex investigations in its history.
The 68-year-old resident of Chatham, Kent ran the Layezy Racing betting syndicate, which was in fact a complicated Ponzi scheme that led to over 6,000 gamblers investing with him after he claimed his formula for horse race betting turned a profit.
Detective Sergeant Alec Wood said: “Mike Stanley started Layezy Racing in 2010 as a legitimate source of income for himself and those who paid into the scheme, but the financial evidence showed that from 2013 onwards he was criminally cheating people out of their hard-earned money in order to maintain his own lavish lifestyle.”
The police said it established the syndicate’s level of success was never enough to support the withdrawals members were making or Stanley’s lifestyle.
Evidence demonstrated that at one point, he had lost over £1m gambling in a single year.
Stanley eventually filed for bankruptcy in January 2019 after allegations about the legitimacy of the scheme were published in the Daily Mail.
Stanley spent money on luxury items
Kent Police detectives subsequently launched a criminal investigation that analysed the syndicate’s computer and financial data, as well as taking witness statements from affected clients.
Many of the victims were friends of Stanley or connected through family, and ultimately invested their savings, pensions, life insurance pay-outs and other finances.
The former Kent Police sergeant spent the money on luxuries including 23 racehorses, a £400,000 Spanish property, expensive vehicles and jewellery.
Some of fraudulent money was also spent on £1.6m of cryptocurrency and £622,000 in silver bullion.
Stanley was later charged with several fraud offences, pleading guilty on all counts in March this year.
He was also made subject to a five-year Serious Crime Prevention Order and disqualified from being a company director for 15 years.
Wood added: “In many cases his victims have experienced a significant impact on their lives and financial futures as a result of Stanley’s false promises, and I would like to thank them for their assistance and patience with what was a significant case in terms of its scope, complexity and administration.”
“I hope the outcome of this investigation sends a clear message that anyone who seeks to lie and cheat their way to financial prosperity will be brought to justice.”