Lawyer seeks leniency for $1.2 million sports betting criminal.
A man from Sydney, Australia, who stated he created an algorithm to outsmart bookmakers, might avoid imprisonment for conning investors in his sports betting enterprise, claims the Australian Associated Press (AAP).
Michael Pryde, 32, functioned as the CEO of bankrupt Simply the Bets Pty Ltd., utilising the algorithm to gamble on baseball and basketball games, along with golf and horse races. Convincingly, he persuaded more than 100 investors - mainly friends and family members - to contribute AU$5.5 million (US$3.6 million) to sponsor the gambling exercise, as relayed in a Trustee's bankruptcy report.
Pryde admitted to defrauding 18 Simply the Bets investors and accepted responsibility for possessing misleading information to exploit funds, as well as fraudulently gaining a financial advantage through deceit. He also admitted defrauding these 18 investors of AU$1.2 million (US$790K).
Before Pryde's Portrayal Fell Apart
During Tuesday's court proceedings, Pryde's lawyer, John Sutton, justified that Pryde didn't have the intention of deceiving anyone and claimed their scheme commenced with success, per the AAP.
Amongst August 2018 and January 2023, Pryde returned AU$2.4 million to participants and earned around AU$320K as part of his agreed 20% cut.
The swindle transpired once Pryde began asking for money from fresh investors when the scheme was visibly deteriorating. He abandons the initial system and ventured into gambling to recoup his losses.
"He was losing money because he was gambling beyond the model, imprudently, recklessly," Sutton told the court. "Inevitably, the house won, or put another way, the scheme lost."
In response to these decreasing fortunes, Pryde produced a fake document to postpone bankruptcy in the hopes of making back money via more reckless gambling - an endeavour that tragically failed to achieve his goals.
"Simple, Naive"
Sutton labelled Pryde's pursuits as embarrassingly naive, insisting that his client was "no Melissa Caddick."
Melissa Caddick was a deceptive Australian financial advisor who, shortly before her 2020 disappearance, defrauded an estimated AU$30 million from friends and family through a Ponzi scheme. Caddick used the taken funds to buy expensive houses, luxury vehicles, designer attire, jewelry, and fine artwork.
On the contrary, Pryde led a frugal lifestyle and did not spend investors' money on personal items. Additionally, he feels regret, and is pursuing treatment for a gambling addiction, his attorney asserts.
Pryde is set to be sentenced on Thursday.
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Source: www.casino.org
