• FSA Library
  • Communication documents
    • Press releases

FSA/PN/047/2006
12 May 2006

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has halted the operations of 147 Racing Limited (147) and Top Bet Placement Services (TBPS), an unauthorised betting syndicate that was at one time advertised as being endorsed by sports celebrities John Parrot and Peter Ebdon. Consumers were first warned of the syndicate in August 2003 when the FSA obtained an interim injunction to temporarily prevent the syndicate from operating.

After 32 months of legal proceedings, it has been acknowledged that the syndicate broke the law because it was a collective investment scheme which was not authorised by the FSA. The Court has ordered that Mr Gary Woodward, a former director of 147, and Mr Sean Fradley, who traded as TBPS and ran the syndicate, should not run an illegal scheme in the future and they have assured the FSA they will not do so.

Following the Court Order, the FSA has taken control of approximately £100,000 in frozen bank accounts and steps will now be taken to return this to the syndicate's 300 customers. This is a fraction of the £2.2 million that customers paid into the syndicate but, because it was not authorised, customers are not protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Margaret Cole, Director of Enforcement said:

"It may come as a surprise that betting syndicates like this can fall on the wrong side of the law. But when they do, they cause investors to lose serious amounts of money without compensation. Potential operators should make sure what they're doing is legal, and potential investors should understand what they're getting into."

The syndicate had the key elements of a collective investment scheme as customers did not have control over which bets were placed and their money was collectively managed. Collective investment schemes must, by law, be authorised by the FSA if they are to be marketed to the general public.

147 distributed unsolicited mail shots, picturing John Parrot and Peter Ebdon, which invited people to 'invest' in horse racing. TBPS placed bets on behalf of customers on the strength of 'confidential information' supplied by 147. Customers paid a minimum of £500 into a betting bank and were 'guaranteed' that their betting bank would increase by a factor of 10 each year. They paid an initial membership fee of £97 a month which rose to £477 a month after a year.

Notes for editors

1. The FSA first warned of 147 and TBPS in August 2003 when the FSA obtained an interim injunction to temporarily prevent the syndicate from operating. In January 2004, the FSA placed 147 into liquidation. The agreement with Mr Fradley, Mr Woodward and the FSA makes the closure of the syndicate final.
2. The FSA regulates the financial services industry and has four objectives under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000: maintaining market confidence; promoting public understanding of the financial system; securing the appropriate degree of protection for consumers; and fighting financial crime.
3. The FSA aims to promote efficient, orderly and fair markets, help retail consumers achieve a fair deal and improve its business capability and effectiveness.