Gambler who stole £800,000 from associates to fund ‘lavish life-style’ of vehicles, watches, designer garments and holidays is jailed

A gambler who swindled his personal family and friends out of greater than £800,000 to bankroll a jet-set life-style of luxurious vehicles, designer watches and sun-soaked holidays has been jailed.

Kenny Sanders, 38, from Canterbury, Kent, posed as a profitable businessman however was secretly a hopeless playing addict who blew his victims’ life financial savings on all-day betting binges.

For six years, Sanders duped greater than 30 trusting associates, kinfolk and colleagues into investing in a faux IT firm then frittered away their money – between £50,000 to £350,000 – in a string of high-stakes playing sprees that ran from daybreak till the early hours.

Some of his victims have been left homeless, others misplaced their companies, and one lady – who invested three-quarters of her life financial savings – was left devastated when the reality emerged.

Desperate to maintain up appearances, Sanders dressed the a part of a metropolis high-flyer — forking out on designer garments, flashy watches and first-class holidays — whereas his victims have been plunged into debt and despair.

The conman finally handed himself in, phoning a police non-emergency line to confess what he had finished.

Detective Constable Mark Huttley of Kent Police, who led the investigation, described it as the most important fraud case of his profession, saying Sanders had ‘destroyed lives’ to gas his dependancy.

Kenny Sanders, 38, from Canterbury, Kent, posed as a profitable businessman however was secretly a hopeless playing addict who blew his victims’ life financial savings on all-day betting binges

‘Sanders gained the belief of household and associates, making them suppose he was nothing apart from a good businessman however in truth he was conning them to be able to fund his personal playing behavior.

‘Victims have misplaced properties and companies attributable to his lies and it’s proper that he now faces the results of his actions.

‘He has ruined their lives for nothing greater than to fund and gas his playing dependancy.’

After admitting 11 counts of fraud by false illustration, Sanders was jailed at Canterbury Crown Court for six years.

The court docket heard how Sanders had arrange an IT firm, Green Source IT Ltd, which he used to commerce with shoppers.

He conned his victims – lots of them shut associates, household and colleagues he’d identified for years – to put money into his firm.

However, Sanders was in truth utilizing the cash to fund his spiralling playing dependancy.

The court docket was instructed that between 2012 and 2018, Sanders took cash from greater than 30 folks, promising them returns within the vary of three to twenty per cent each 40 to 60 days – however these returns by no means materialised.

Enquiries made with the Gambling Commission confirmed he was playing away hundreds of thousands of kilos throughout the identical time interval.

It was heard Sanders would gamble on horse racing, greyhound racing and soccer matches and as soon as went on a betting spree lasting from 7am someday via to 1am the next morning.

One of his victims, Adam Woollcott, a buddy of Sanders who met him enjoying soccer, instructed the court docket he’d misplaced ‘every part’ within the fraud.

Victims Gavin Pereira and his spouse Claire invested £79,000 in Sanders’ agency

The court docket heard Mr Woollcott had not solely invested inheritance cash into his buddy’s enterprise but in addition took out loans.

He stated the ‘overwhelming’ monetary stress that resulted, in addition to the emotional affect of being conned, had left him in ‘an extremely darkish place’.

‘I’ve misplaced every part – my automotive, my home – and I’ve been left in debt,’ Mr Woollcott stated.

He added that Sanders knew the ‘deep, private worth’ of the cash he had given to him.

DC Huttley, talking after Sanders’ sentence, stated some victims have been compelled to remortgage their properties to boost the cash, while others arrange secondary companies to put money into his firm.

One disabled lady invested 75 per cent of her life financial savings after assembly Sanders via a mutual buddy, the court docket heard.

DC Huttley added that Sanders had ‘many extra’ victims, however that their claims both failed to fulfill a prison threshold, or they merely didn’t comply with via with them.

‘It’s the most important fraud I’ve personally been concerned in,’ he stated.

‘There have been a variety of victims concerned. It was a very uncommon case from the outset.

‘It’s not daily that somebody experiences themselves for defrauding folks they know out of that amount of cash.

‘Some victims have been so wrapped up within the internet of lies Sanders had created that they themselves had inspired others to ‘make investments’.

‘The victims have been via so much over the past eight years.

‘A whole lot of them have been shut associates of Kenny Sanders, enterprise acquaintances as effectively.

‘People had been going via tough instances and wanted one thing to put money into. He took their cash from them.

‘One of the chaps offered his home and put the income into this funding.

‘Another needed to promote their home purely underneath the guarantees that Kenny Sanders made to them.

‘It simply ended up being a Ponzi scheme – he started paying folks with different folks’s cash.

‘Many victims paid out cash from their inheritance that they might have spent on different stuff had they not been deceived by Sanders.

‘Fraud is theft by mendacity. Sanders portrayed himself as a profitable businessman and used the reward of the gab.

‘He went on lavish holidays and had designer watches and garments.’

On how he lastly turned himself in, DC Huttley revealed that Sanders had rang a non-emergency reporting line.

‘It’s one thing I’ve not heard of earlier than,’ he admitted. ‘By the time he confessed, I believe he had a second of readability.

‘He did come throughout as remorseful, however was that truthful? You can simply by no means inform. Yes, he had an dependancy, however he used different folks’s cash to fund that dependancy.

‘I hope this case reveals that Kent Police take fraud offending very severely certainly.’