Pryde allegedly approached his contacts to get them to back his \u201cguaranteed\u201d betting system. St. Joseph\u2019s must have taught him how to be a convincing salesman, as several bought his pitch without hesitation.<\/p>\n
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The system reportedly used a “foolproof” algorithm that was able to flawlessly predict the outcome of sports events. However, it didn\u2019t actually exist anywhere outside of Pryde\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The same is true for the address he used for the business. While the building itself, the McLaren Apartments in Sydney, exists, the apartment number he assigned himself doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Not only were the algorithm and address fake, but so were the operations. None of the investors apparently bothered to check whether Pryde held a license to conduct any type of gaming operations. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) confirmed that he doesn\u2019t.<\/strong><\/p>\nNone of those shortcomings stopped investors from believing Pryde\u2019s manipulative pitches. He even showed them bank statements that \u201cproved\u201d he had over AUD2.6 million (US$1.8 million) in his accounts.<\/p>\n
However, like everything else, the information was fake. Pryde allegedly doctored the statements and only had about AUD2,620 (US$1,800).<\/p>\n
Millions Lost<\/h2>\n So far, no one has been able to determine how much money changed hands through the alleged scam. Two investors presented documents to show they put in AUD1.35 million (US$936,675). But there\u2019s still a lot more out there.<\/p>\n
The NSW Supreme Court ordered Pryde\u2019s bank accounts to be frozen after the investors came forward. At the same time, there are other lawsuits pending against the alleged shyster, as more investors try to reclaim lost money.<\/strong><\/p>\nSome have already won their cases. Dean Jacobson, the son of Australian musician and music producer Kevin Jacobson, found relief after a lower court ordered Pryde to return to him AUD74,542 (US$51,441). However, it isn\u2019t clear if he has received the money, or if he is still waiting.<\/p>\n
Pryde may have been running the business like a Ponzi scheme<\/a>, taking new investments to pay off previous investors. However, according to him, he hasn\u2019t done anything wrong. In comments to the Daily Telegraph<\/em>, amid claims of mental and emotional damage as a result of the lawsuits, Pryde asserted that his side of the story has yet to be revealed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 31-year-old Australian man who spent his formative years at an affluent all-male boarding school picked up an education his parents didn\u2019t count on. He allegedly learned how to scam people out of money, which he has done by convincing others to invest millions of dollars in his Simply the Bets sports betting platform. Michael […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":260551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,1074],"tags":[81985,13702,80968],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Sports Betting Scam Sees Aussie Steal Millions From Investors - Casino.org<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n