Simply the Bets boss Michael Pryde avoids jail over $1.2m scam

“I do not think it is fair to use his name in the same sentence” as Melissa Caddick, a magistrate said, in sparing fraudster Michael Pryde from jail over a failed sports betting scheme that duped 20 people of $1.2 million.

He’s no Melissa Caddick.

This was the assessment of a magistrate who on Thursday decided the appropriate punishment for gambling fraudster Michael Pryde was a two-year supervision order and 202 hours of community work such as mowing lawns or removing graffiti.

In March, Pryde pleaded guilty to dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and using a false document to obtain financial advantage.

Bankrupt and living in Newcastle with his doctor father, he admitted to duping 20 people including businessmen and entrepreneurs of nearly $1.2 million via Simply the Bets – a sports punting scheme gone bad.

The Downing Centre had earlier heard Pryde’s algorithm for wagering on golf to baseball was initially successful, but that after incurring a personal debt of $33,000, the former four-unit maths whiz started gambling recklessly, which triggered spiralling losses that he tried to plug by tricking people into making further deposits.

Michael Charles Pryde leaving Downing Centre Court on Tuesday. Picture: Rohan Kelly

Pryde was extradited from Brisbane to NSW last year.

The maximum combined sentence for the offences was 10 years behind bars.

But because the case was heard in the local court, the actual cap was half that.

Magistrate Scott Nash said while it was very important that the sentence he imposed sent a warning to others who might think of doing what Pryde did, this was not the only consideration.

The “objective seriousness” of the crimes was the most important factor.

To that end, he said the disadvantage suffered by people who gave Pryde money was “significant” and unlikely to be recovered, plus the fraud had run for several years.

On the mitigating side, the motive was to try to repay “haemorrhaging losses … not financial gain in the true sense”, and Pryde did not use the cash from his con to support a lavish or extravagant lifestyle.

Notes revealed in court show Michael Pryde considered himself to be running a Ponzi scheme.

The letter sent by Michael Pryde to investors claiming he had $2,620,803,12 in his CBA bank account. The actual amount was $2600.

As well, the fraud, while based on an algorithm, was not sophisticated and, unlike an investment scheme, there was never a guarantee of a return.

“It was always gambling, Mr Nash said.

“This was not offending of a Melissa Caddick kind,” he added, referencing the bogus Sydney financial adviser who swindled $30m in a Ponzi scheme which she used to buy houses, luxury cars and expensive jewellery.

“I do not think it is fair to use his name in the same sentence as Ms Caddick.”

The court determined Pryde’s offending was not higher than mid-range and that he did not present a safety threat to the community. He was remorseful, working, had family support and hadn’t committed a crime before.

Pryde did not comment as he left the court building after the delivery of the sentence, which was lighter than the three-year intensive correction order his lawyer John Sutton had suggested. An ICO does not involve incarceration.

After hearing of the decision, one of the people Pryde duped told The Daily Telegraph it was very disappointing: “You don’t have to be Melissa Caddick to go to jail for ripping off $1.2m.”

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