NSW Scammed and scared

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26 December 2020
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Sorry if this waffles on , this is a first for us and we are falling apart. A few months ago my husbands close mates brother came home from living OS due to Covid. Anyway the brother started coming to the pub to have a beer every few weeks so my husband got to know him and started considering him a friend. The brother said he wasn’t working due to Covid but he was trying to be a professional gambler as he used to be a professional gambler as he used to be a pro table tennis player and knew the game extremely well and was having a lot of success punting on overseas games. He admitted he had friends os who were also professional gamblers and they sold ‘tips’ ( not illegal , many people make a good business selling punting tips. They even given them out of Aussie tv racing stations ) the issue was that because he was doing so well the betting companies had limited his accounts so he could hardly use them, this whole sob story of “ gambling organisations take the money of people loosing everything but if you win they cut you off “ he asked if my husband could sign up for these accounts and let him use them to place bets. It wasn’t illegal but did violate the t&c’s of the betting companies. He said as a thank you for the favour he would give him a few bucks ( 10%) if he won. My husband , a good but trusting moron didn’t want to see his new mate broke and miserable and agreed. He never placed bets himself. He didn’t even know what games he was betting on or literally any other details. The brother would just message him if he won and ask for hubby to send him his money. Stupid husband didn’t tell me this was happening as he didn’t think it was a big deal. It’s worth mentioning my hubby has no criminal record , not even a driving record and is a well respected professional with two young children. Anyway , wednesday to my absolute trauma feds knocked on our door with a search warrant. Allegedly , this brother has been paying players OS to fix matches , finding out about fixed matches through his contacts as an ex player himself and has used the accounts of at least 8 other people. We didn’t even know what he was accused of doing hours after the police left and it was on the news. My husband threw up. He was a mess in tears. He had no idea. The police said after the search he wasn’t under arrest. They were lovely but said they of course had to tell him that’s possible to change. He answered all their questions because he wanted to be helpful and didn’t do anything against the law. If what they allege is true , this brother used him and lied to him. What we do know is they have had this guys phone tapped for six months. My hubby talked to him over the phone all the time, often about letting him use his account but never about match fixing as obviously he had no idea and as an upstanding guy and sports lover would be appalled by the idea. We are now just a bloody mess. Not sure what I’m expecting to get from this but we don’t know how to process this
 

Tim W

Lawyer
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28 April 2014
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First things first - You and your husband need lawyers. Immediately.
Yes, this will cost you a packet.
And no, as (mere) prospective witnesses, with at least one job between you,
then you probably won't get Legal Aid.
But you do need proper advice about your rights and obligations.

Try and focus - if they've been on this bloke for months, then they already have a sense
of whether or not your husband and you are co-offenders, or not.
And they will already know if your husband a cleanskin - they will have already checked.

Say nothing, to anyone, about any aspect, until you have had formal legal advice,
from a specialist criminal lawyer - of your own choosing.
Especially, and I cannot over-emphasise this - do not discuss any aspect of it with
people that you know, who also know him.
You don't know who else is a person of interest to police here - and the last thing you need
is anything that even looks like collusion.
You will need to make a special effort to keep your husband's naive mouth firmly shut.
There is no lay person who can help you - the police certainly will not.

You (probably both of you) can expect to be interviewed again by the police - perhaps more than once.
If it hasn't already happened without you knowing,
then you can expect a full forensic examination of all your finances - yours and his both.

You can also expect that they will require him, and probably you,
to give evidence against the guy at his trial.
If you express any reluctance, then they will threaten you with charges of conspiracy and obstruction.

If you are both genuinely innocent, of anything at all, then try not to worry
(and yes, I accept that that's easy to say, but very hard to do).
This will be ugly, demanding, and distressing.
But one day, it will be over.
 
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26 December 2020
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Thank you so much for your reply. You have made me feel a bit better actually , so I appreciate that. We have called around to a few lawyers and think there is one that seems very promising. The cost is much less of a concern to us right now than having good professional help so we can go back to living our normal lives.
thank you for the collision advice , my instincts told me to keep away from the poor other blokes who got sucked in. It will be hard for my husband as two are close friends , but the others we didn’t even know existed. To be honest we don’t know much at all other than what we can piece together in the news. It feels like being in a big dark void , you know there is danger but don’t have light to help us really see what it is.
they certainly have been watching this guy for 6 months and hubby and I are hoping that means they have had his phone bugged , Facebook messages read etc already in the process. Same goes with forensic accounting , I would be over the moon if they have already done that as all they will see is my Kmart addiction and my husbands rare $5 punt on a horse. We just aren’t cut out to emotionally handle something like this , it just hit us like a truck out of nowhere. I guess at least guilty people have it in the back of their mind the police might come knocking one day and can be a bit mentally prepared. I think we are still in shock.
we would be more than willing to give evidence and genuinely want to help. If what they say this “ friend “ has done is true the betrayal is unfathomable, and him tricking someone with a family and happy life into this nightmare is unforgivable. But all lawyers we have spoken to have said not to talk to the police and instead give them their number. Does that sound normal to you ?
 

Tim W

Lawyer
LawConnect (LawTap) Verified
28 April 2014
4,913
820
2,894
Sydney
But all lawyers we have spoken to have said not to talk to the police and instead give them their number. Does that sound normal to you ?
Yes, that's quite normal.
No way on God's green earth do ->you<- go anywhere near the police without a lawyer's help and advice.