Bogus Detective Fraudsters Heaped More Misery on Gambling Scam Victims
Posted on: September 17, 2025, 07:56h.
Last updated on: September 17, 2025, 07:56h.
- Gang preyed on victims of prior sports betting frauds.
- Judge condemned their exploitation of vulnerable people’s desperation.
- Four men sentenced after conning £110,180 through false promises.
A group of British men who posed as private detectives as part of a ruse to defraud people who were already the victims of horse racing and sports betting investment scams were all handed prison sentences Tuesday.
Judge Francis Laird of Teesside Crown Court in northeast England said the group targeted vulnerable people who had “already lost thousands of pounds,” describing their conduct as a calculated exploitation of hope.
Prosecutors said the gang contacted former fraud victims by text and phone, claiming to be investigators who could retrieve their lost money provided they were paid up front. Then they gave them the hard sell.
Three victims paid a combined £110,180. These included one woman who had already lost £20,000 to scammers. She handed over £82,500 to the bogus team, according to court records.
Fraud Gang
Christopher Call, 36, was sentenced to four years and three months with a further two years and three months for unrelated fraudulent trading. Charles Palmer, 43, received four and a half years for conspiracy to defraud, according to court documents.
Palmer had to be extradited back to the UK from Spain after he skipped town ahead of his trial. He eventually admitted conspiracy to defraud.
An associate, Kevin Ratcliffe, was given 20 months in prison. He lent the pair a Bentley to help portray them as successful businessmen. Ratcliffe is already serving 14 years after being sentenced in January 2024 for drug offences.
Another associate, Joseph Holden, 35, allowed the money to be paid into his bank account. Holden got two years and three months.
The group’s MO began with contact with the victims that was framed as official help, followed by pressure for advance “fees” or “commission,” and then repeated requests for money once the victim engaged, according to court documents.
Scam Unravels
The scheme began to unravel when a fourth target who had previously been defrauded of £183,000 in a horse-racing investment con became suspicious of escalating demands. She reported her concerns to police.
Call’s criminal history included earlier fraud convictions. His past as a “rogue builder” was also addressed in court. According to BBC reporting, the extra two years and three months he received were for fraudulent trading linked to his roofing firm, YRB — short for “Your Roofing Buddy.”
Call admitted conspiracy to defraud and fraudulent trading through that company, which was accused of substandard, overpriced work at elderly residents’ homes.
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