UK Men Jailed After Posing as Detectives to Swindle Victims of Gambling Scams

Four men have been jailed in the UK after an elaborate scam that targeted previous victims of gambling scams by posing as detectives.

Christopher Call, 36, and Charles Palmer, 43, orchestrated the scheme where they pretended to be detectives offering compensation to victims of fraud.

Call was jailed for four years and three months for the compensation scam, plus an additional two years and three months for fraudulent trading. Palmer, who had fled to Spain, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for conspiracy to defraud.

Two others, Kevin Ratcliffe and Joseph Holden, were also given prison sentences for their involvement. Ratcliffe loaned a Bentley to the men to give the impression of legitimacy to the fake detectives. Holden managed the financial accounts of the scam, collecting money from the victims.

Ratcliffe, who was already serving time inside for drug offenses, received an additional 20 months in jail. Holden was sentenced to two years and three months behind bars for his involvement.

Gang Targeted Previous Victims of Fraud

The scheme operated by contacting previous victims of horse racing and gambling scams through text messages. The men said they were private investigators and detectives who could get their money back.

After meeting with the men, one woman, who had previously lost £20,000, ended up paying out £82,500 ($112,000). Another woman paid £21,000, while a 79-year-old man, who had also lost about £20,000 in an earlier scam, paid £6,680.

A fourth victim had also been targeted, but raised suspicions about the gang after persistent attempts to get her to pay to recover her losses. She had previously been taken for £183,000 ($250,000) in a horse racing scam.

It is unclear how the men obtained the victims’ contact details, but Judge Francis Laird KC was damning of their specific targeting of “desperate” people.

In another horse racing-related case, a man was arrested this week in the UK over allegations of race fixing. This comes at a time when the racing industry is attempting to promote its reputation as a staple of British society.

The British Horseracing Authority organized a strike in protest against tax hikes on horse racing betting last week.

Criminal Gang Features Wide Range of Rap Sheets

In addition to the compensation scheme, Call had previously been convicted of fraud and given a five-year prison sentence in 2014.

He also admitted conspiracy to defraud and fraudulent trading through his roofing company, Your Roofing Buddy. The company was accused of doing “substandard” work at “grossly inflated prices” at the homes of four elderly people.

Ratcliffe was jailed for 14 years in January 2024 for drug offenses and 27 months in February this year for cheating the public revenue.