Devastated investors demand money back as Simply The Bets conman loads trucks for a living

Refusing to apologise to conned investors, bankrupt gambling fraudster Michael Pryde now works as a scaffold labourer in Newcastle, where he plays darts with workers in his downtime.

Convicted gambling fraudster Michael Pryde is working long shifts as a scaffold labourer at a dusty stockyard, far from his previous life as a high-flying gambler who duped 20 investors out of more than $1.2m.

Pryde, 33, was last year sentenced to a two-year intensive corrections order and 200 hours of community service over his failed Simply The Bets punting scheme, and now spends his days loading trucks with timber pallets and scaffolding on a Newcastle industrial estate.

While he once lived in luxury units in Sydney’s east, the St Joseph’s College Hunters Hill old boy now earns up to $35.61 an hour alongside a team of labourers on the dusty yard in the Steel City’s Carrington ­quarter, where during downtime the site foreman revealed “the young fellas play darts and some have become quite good”.

Pryde, who moved to Newcastle with his family as a child, now lives close to his father’s oceanside unit with his new girlfriend, driving a Nissan Micra with P-plates to work.

But the former four-unit maths whiz, who convinced schoolmates and family members to invest in his “foolproof” betting algorithm before he gambled away their funds, claims he has drawn a line under his past.

Michael Pryde arriving at his new job at a Newcastle scaffolding company. Picture: Supplied

Michael Pryde entering court. where he pleaded guilty to dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception. Picture: Rohan Kelly

When asked whether he would fully repay the $100,000 compensation fee to his victims imposed during his criminal proceedings, Pryde did not answer.

“No comment. I have nothing to say,” he said from his rented apartment at Merewether.

Court documents previously stated Pryde wove a web of deceit from 2015 to 2023, where at least 20 complainants including businessmen, entrepreneurs and tradies deposited hundreds of thousands of dollars into several accounts he controlled.

Convicted fraudster Michael Pryde working in the yard. Picture: Supplied

Pryde used a maths algorithm to predict the bets he placed on sports from golf to baseball, and tried to plug spiralling losses by using fake statements showing huge wins to trick people into making more deposits.

A one-day Federal Court hearing last August heard Pryde’s bankruptcy trustee had uncovered records showing more than 100 ­creditors were owed as much as $5m through Simply the Bets.

Pryde told the hearing he used over $600,000 of creditors’ funds from 2021-22 to repay relatives, claiming at the time the had hoped to “trade” himself out of debt to his creditors through more gambling.

One investor, who lost more than $100,000, said Pryde’s fall from grace brought little solace.

“It’s still disappointing that he didn’t go to jail … he will now know what it is like to earn his own money and not take from other people,” the investor said.

“He never used to drive, he took Ubers everywhere, probably with our cash, and lived the high life thinking he was a celebrity.

“The stress he caused us ­trying to get our money back for three years, the lies, the deceit, the bulls … he fed us, was unbelievably stressful.

“We invested more than $100,000 and got a pittance back … he’s a complete liar who dreamt of being famous.”

Pryde’s scheme began to unravel when NSW Police established Strike Force Hand to investigate the alleged sports betting Ponzi-style scheme in 2023.

He was arrested at his Brisbane home, before being extradited back to NSW where he admitted to charges of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and using a false document to obtain financial advantage.

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Originally published as Devastated investors demand money back as Simply The Bets conman loads trucks for a living