Security News > 2020 > October > How's this for overachieving? Man accused of running software outfit as a Ponzi scheme while on parole from previous fraud

A convicted fraudster was out on parole when he allegedly conned victims into giving him millions of dollars to place surefire sports bets on their behalf using special software that didn't actually exist.

Christopher Hales, 39, of Lehi, Utah, has been charged with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy - and must answer a civil lawsuit from punters who say they were duped into parting with their cash.

Hales, it is claimed, boasted to potential investors he owned foolproof sports betting software that could "Beat the house." The pitch to marks went like this, according to prosecutors: Hales would take investors' money, and use it to place wagers on sports games as directed by his amazing software.

Hales even assured his investors his non-existent betting software was a hot commodity, and the subject of bids of "Tens of millions of dollars" from tech giants, it is claimed.

It was allegedly just Hales, operating under the name of Chris Christian, running what prosecutors say was a scam while still serving time from his previous criminal scheme.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2020/10/02/scammers_gonna_allegedly_scam/