Two Brighton and Hove men charged with £5m betting fraud
Two men from Brighton and Hove have been charged over what police believe was a horse race betting brochure investment fraud.
Jobless John McCracken, 45, of Whitehawk Road, Brighton, and self-employed John Brice, 39, of Sandringham Drive, Hove, have been bailed to appear at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Friday 29 June.
They will be joined in the dock by a third man, company director Matthew Thole, 39, of Cefn Mably Park, Michaelston-y-Fedw, Cardiff.
All three are charged with fraudulently conspiring together between 30 April 2003 and 13 February 2008 and with twins Paul and Gregory Spicer, with Lee O’Donnell and others.
The conspiracy allegedly targeted prospective and actual participants in various purported betting services and purported investment services.
They are accused of dishonestly
- making false claims in relation to the betting services
- making false claims in relation to the investment services
- seeking and receiving payment in relation to those services
The charges follow a nine-month inquiry by the Sussex Police Major Fraud Unit and a review of the evidence by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Those accused are alleged to have obtained more than £5 million by convincing hundreds of people across the country to invest in non-existent betting brochure schemes.
All three have been on police bail since their arrests last year.
Brice and Thole were charged when they answered their bail on Tuesday (12 June) and McCracken was charged when he answered his bail yesterday (Wednesday 13 June).
A fourth man, a 38-year-old from Lancing, has so far failed to answer his bail and police inquiries are being made to trace him.
The two Spicers and O’Donnell were jailed for conspiracy to defraud at Lewes Crown Court in June 2010.
