RUNDLURT: 38 young men thought they were getting tips on match-fixing. Photo: District Court
The victims were young boys who thought they were paying for tips in connection with match-fixing and online gambling.
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2021 started with offers of exclusive betting tips on Snapchat and TikTok for 38 young men. It ended with great losses and threats. In the judgment from Søndre Østfold district court, it appears that several of the victims have lost over half a million kroner.
The idea of offering customers to bet on fixed football matches came in autumn 2020. “It was all pure fraud because there were no real matches, the purpose was only to bring in money.” it says in the judgement.
THE START: With this message on Snapchat, they got the first people who were deceived. Photo: District Court
The victims in the case thought they were paying for insider tips and information about match-fixing. In reality, the convicts ran away with the money, according to the judgement.
The judge writes that a typical false tip was that the now convicted said they had gotten a “player they knew” to go in to get a yellow card during the match.
«They could also send videos via Snapchat/TikTok that showed large stacks of banknotes, expensive cars, beautiful ladies, exclusive holidays etc., as well as screenshots that showed several millions in betting accounts», it says in the judgement.
Furthermore, it states that at the end of the match, the now convicted could send congratulations to the customers where they wrote that “the prize has been entered, but please be patient».
When the win did not materialize, the excuse should have been that there were problems with the payout.
MONEY STOP: There were various explanations as to why the winnings were not made. Photo: District Court
Bonus-sak
The police came across the frauds when they investigated a major drug seizure in Sarpsborg in 2021. At that time, the police found 14 kg of hashish, several pistols and other heavier weapons. At first they thought that the money transactions were part of a larger money laundering operation, but the investigation revealed that the transactions were about online gambling and match fixing.
Via TikTok and Snapchat, the victims had been offered the purchase of subscriptions with various categories of betting tips, and then later encouraged to bet money on fixed matches abroad with a sure profit. The men found out after the match that the winnings had gone in, but that they had to pay more to get the money out.
CARDS: One way they tricked customers, according to the verdict, was to tell a player to “take” a yellow card during the match. Photo: The police
Threats
When some of the victims threatened to make a police report, they allegedly received threats in return.
The judgment states, among other things, that: “(The defendant) threatened to “take his family” if he went to the police.” Another offended “received a real murder video of a hairdresser who was shot and killed inside a hair salon in Sweden”.
According to the verdict, the fraudsters spent a lot of time nurturing the customer relationship – several are said to have been tricked into continuing to send money, despite the fact that no payment was made.
According to the verdict, several of those who were defrauded are left with large debts.
“They are left with large loans to private individuals/banks. Several of the victims also squandered inheritances or compensation they had recently received. A common denominator for the aggrieved parties is that the frauds have caused them a great deal of shame and self-reproach.”
Of the 38 cheated, 24 of them asked for compensation for a total loss of 2,814,477.
Flat no
The public prosecutor asked the court to award damages to them. The district court said no to that.
The judge explains this by saying that the aggrieved party thought they were playing in a fixed football match, which in itself is illegal.
The two main defendants were therefore acquitted of the compensation claims from the 24 victims. A woman who was prosecuted for gross fraud of NOK 1.1 million was instead sentenced for embezzlement of the same amount. Her defense attorney does not want to comment on the case.
The two main men were sentenced for serious fraud with prison terms of 3 years and six months and 2 years and eight months, respectively.
– My client is familiar with the sentence and shares my view that it is too strict. The verdict will be appealed, says lawyer Knut Ditlev-Simonsen, who defends the one main man. Parts of the sentence are a joint sentence from an earlier sentence this year.
The second main defendant’s defense attorney from the law firm Rogstad has not yet responded to VG’s inquiry.
A fourth person was convicted of forgery and received 90 days in prison.
A total of NOK 3.7 million was confiscated in the case.
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Published: 01.12.23 at 08:44
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2023-12-01 07:44:35
#Convicted #fraud #TikTok #Snapchat
