The British accountant has pleaded guilty of fraud in a case that saw the accountant stealing over £3 million so that he could place wagers on sports, which primarily was football. The accused, Darren Thompson claimed to have a fool proof system that would ensure success. He began to offer his unproven system to investors and then took that money to gamble on football, losing the entire lot.
The apparent system was proven to be not as foolproof as he claimed and the result was 100 plus investors lost their investment. This included the victim’s mother, his spouse’s family and others the accused was known to associate with.
Thompson in turn used investors’ money to purchase luxury vehicles, get married and take expensive trips. Thompson went so far as to create brochures claiming his system was foolproof in an attempt to find more investors to defraud.
The accused’s lawyer stated to the court that his client system was initially only created for his own use however as more friends of his client became aware of it and wanted in. Problems started to show in 2007 when it was clear his system was not as good as claimed. Investors were aware that his client was using their money to place bets and that the chance of losing their investment was real.