Former Police Officer Fraudster Jailed for Multi-Million Pound Betting Syndicate Scam

Michael Stanley, a former police officer, was jailed for running a £44 million Ponzi-style betting syndicate scam. (C: Kent Police)

A former police officer from Kent has been sentenced to six years in prison after defrauding thousands of people out of £44 million in a Ponzi-style betting syndicate scam.

Michael Stanley, 67, from Chatham, pleaded guilty to several fraud charges and was sentenced on Friday, September 30th, at Maidstone Crown Court. In addition to the jail term, Stanley has been disqualified from serving as a company director for 15 years, and the court imposed a Serious Crime Prevention Order, which will remain in place for five years following his release.

Former Police Carried Out Fraud Over Many Years 

Evidence submitted by the prosecution highlighted the fact that Stanley had carried out the fraud between 2013 and February 2019 using the name 'Layzey Racing Syndicate'. The scheme was so popular that it gathered over 6,000 members who invested funds for what they believed to be collective gambling controlled by Stanley.  

Stanley’s deception of members, including friends and family, was to lie about the success of the scheme, only paying early members while falsely inflating the value of investments. He also paid money from the scheme into his own accounts, which he was not entitled to.

Investigations made by Kent Police revealed that members had invested a minimum of £44.2 million in the syndicate. The syndicate is estimated to have made an overall net loss of at least £10.5 million.  

Det Sgt. Alec Wood, head of complex fraud at Kent Police’s economic crime unit, said the case was the largest fraud the force had ever prosecuted. 

Wood said that Stanley’s behaviour did not “reflect the current professionalism and dedication” of officers.

Scheme Was Doomed to Collapse 

Stanley, who served as a police officer in the 1980s, was declared bankrupt in 2019. He benefitted from the fraud to the sum of at least £4 million and misused funds to pay for his lavish lifestyle, including 23 racehorses, a villa and apartment in Spain, new Land Rovers, private number plates costing £15,000 and expensive jewellery. 

Rachael Barber from the Crown Prosecution Service said: "Michael Stanley operated a massive fraud, which he marketed to unsuspecting members as ‘virtually risk-free’, whilst boasting of the huge profits from the syndicate. 

In reality, Stanley’s gambling losses far exceeded any winnings, and the scheme was doomed to collapse at some point. 

Barber added, “When this inevitably happened in 2019, devastated members were left out of pocket, and money they believed they had legitimately invested for weddings, retirement funds, medical treatment, and other purposes was all gone. 

“Stanley totally betrayed the trust placed in him by investors to manage their money wisely, and we are pleased to have secured justice for these victims.”