Sports Betting Syndicate in Australia Under Fire

A Queensland-based online gambling scam has reportedly been discovered, in which unsuspecting Australians have been bilked out of millions of dollars. And there is a former police detective at the center of it.

The man's name is Michael Featherstone, who left the Queensland police force under rather suspicious circumstances. Apparently he was among cops who had raided a drug dealer's home and made arrests, with a substantial amount of money missing. He also allegedly planted drugs on suspects. That was a while back. Now he's into a whole new deal, and, if the reports are correct, it's been much more profitable.

According to a televised report, this operation may even have had the support of some members of the police department, who are said to have ignored complaints about it for almost a decade. Under immense pressure from many quarters, including industrious private investigator Ken Gamble (ironic name), an investigation of former colleague Featherstone has finally been opened by the Queensland police. Television reporters have also picked up the trail.

As far as we can tell, this amounts to a large boiler room, engaging in a scheme that surrounds the sale of software for sports betting purposes, in which the customer is told that winning is virtually guaranteed. The price is high (said to be $16,000), and there is also a component to the scam which involves a telemarketing script in which those on the other end of the call are told that they will profit from wagers made on their behalf. Then they would share in those proceeds, but of course they have to invest first. One of these operations is called "UK Home Based Business," in which bets are made on horse races, using the software, supposedly.

In the end, nothing is bet; nothing is risked. What basically happens, using street terminology, is that the money comes in the front door and goes out the back door. The investors never had a chance from the moment they laid their money out.

According to one of the investors who was recruited, "We were extremely happy with it and everything was going wonderfully." But then, all of a sudden, the accounts were blocked and suspended, with the investment (which in this case was $80,000) was lost. UK Home Based Business was reportedly headed by an associate of Featherstone's (named Phil Cropper), who had once been charged with trying to extort major Australian celebrity Russell Crowe through a blackmail scheme.

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