There's at least one series of Underbelly in this saga - or perhaps there isn't? After revelations earlier in the week that the man behind the multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme Bill Vlahos had been bashed and his ute torched.... it appears that he did it all himself! Very flimsy witness statements and evidence which just doesn't add up....
Police have task of unravelling puzzling tale of Bill Vlahos and his punting club
The house apparently had virtually no furniture in it, Vlahos hadn't been there for months and the 'thugs' just happen to find him there. Plus they managed to find the fuel can in the shed to torch the ute. Not just any fuel can, but the one with diesel in it rather than petrol, because the latter might cause an explosion and injure the person igniting it (cheers to @chyde33 for that tip out of the arsonist's handbook). All the paperwork (if there actually was any) just happened to be in the ute and probably any laptop too.
Investigating journalist Andrew Rule also shed some light on the figures quoted in the various articles - the $194m, or possibly even $500m according to some, is unlikely to have ever existed as such. Investors have put in large sums of money, an average of around $100k has been quoted, and were of the belief that they had increased their investment to at least double the original value, probably higher if they were hooked in early. So the actual cash which has disappeared/been pissed up against the wall buying under-performing horses is probably closer to $70-80m. Even still, that's a ridiculous sum of money considering there was never a prospectus for this scheme, known as 'The Edge', no receipts given...... And key to their recruitment drive - "anyone with a clue about racing was not welcome as a member", i.e. we only target people we think are likely to be sucked in... And the more this goes on, the more it looks like there never actually was a punters' club - no betting, just a big fraud based on money continually coming in from fresh investment.
Bill Vlahos syndicate loses its edge, and punters may lose $500 million
The Age seems to think it's $500m, I'd rather believe Andrew Rule's version of events.
Out-of-luck Craig Cameron left to salvage BC3's smouldering wreck
Craig Cameron left his job as General Manager of Football at Richmond FC to step back from the stress of AFL football and indulge in his love of racing. Now he has to deal with the aftermath of BC3.
And all of this basically says that it has very little to do with racing. A syndication company (which actually wasn't licensed) has gone bust, but that should be an ASIC matter and the punting syndicate/Ponzi scheme scam is a fraud matter for the police. Racing is just the vehicle which has been associated with it - there is very little Racing Victoria can do, bar ensure they have tighter controls on who they let operate in the industry as syndicators and to make big waves with advertising and self-promotion within the industry media.
Police have task of unravelling puzzling tale of Bill Vlahos and his punting club
The house apparently had virtually no furniture in it, Vlahos hadn't been there for months and the 'thugs' just happen to find him there. Plus they managed to find the fuel can in the shed to torch the ute. Not just any fuel can, but the one with diesel in it rather than petrol, because the latter might cause an explosion and injure the person igniting it (cheers to @chyde33 for that tip out of the arsonist's handbook). All the paperwork (if there actually was any) just happened to be in the ute and probably any laptop too.
Investigating journalist Andrew Rule also shed some light on the figures quoted in the various articles - the $194m, or possibly even $500m according to some, is unlikely to have ever existed as such. Investors have put in large sums of money, an average of around $100k has been quoted, and were of the belief that they had increased their investment to at least double the original value, probably higher if they were hooked in early. So the actual cash which has disappeared/been pissed up against the wall buying under-performing horses is probably closer to $70-80m. Even still, that's a ridiculous sum of money considering there was never a prospectus for this scheme, known as 'The Edge', no receipts given...... And key to their recruitment drive - "anyone with a clue about racing was not welcome as a member", i.e. we only target people we think are likely to be sucked in... And the more this goes on, the more it looks like there never actually was a punters' club - no betting, just a big fraud based on money continually coming in from fresh investment.
Bill Vlahos syndicate loses its edge, and punters may lose $500 million
The Age seems to think it's $500m, I'd rather believe Andrew Rule's version of events.
Out-of-luck Craig Cameron left to salvage BC3's smouldering wreck
Craig Cameron left his job as General Manager of Football at Richmond FC to step back from the stress of AFL football and indulge in his love of racing. Now he has to deal with the aftermath of BC3.
And all of this basically says that it has very little to do with racing. A syndication company (which actually wasn't licensed) has gone bust, but that should be an ASIC matter and the punting syndicate/Ponzi scheme scam is a fraud matter for the police. Racing is just the vehicle which has been associated with it - there is very little Racing Victoria can do, bar ensure they have tighter controls on who they let operate in the industry as syndicators and to make big waves with advertising and self-promotion within the industry media.
BC3 were never a licensed syndicator. Several legit licensed syndicators made complaints about them to RVL and all RVL did was give them a slap on the wrist and virtually advise them how to get around ASIC legislation.
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