Dodgy Tipsters everywhere...

from the racingpost.com



McCracken 'took £10,000 off pensioner'




A PENSIONER who handed over more than £10,000 to tipster John McCracken for an ‘extra special' betting scheme never saw his money again, a court heard on Tuesday.

Peter McClean was giving evidence at the Lewes Crown Court trial of three men accused of taking part in a £5 million betting scam.

Unemployed McCracken, 47, from Brighton, who was effectively warned off for life in 2004 after refusing to co-operate with a race-fixing investigation, is charged with conspiracy to defraud between April 30, 2003 and February 13, 2008.

His co-defendants, self-employed John Brice, 40, of Hove, and Matthew Thole, 40, a company director and tipster from Cardiff, face the same charge. All three men have pleaded not guilty.

McClean, from Coventry, received a brochure with McCracken's picture on the front in spring 2006, and paid £227 for a three-year membership.

He said: "In quick succession within about a week or so I got four tips. To my surprise three of the damn things won."

McClean said he only bet in small amounts as he "wasn't convinced to begin with" because of the short odds, but subsequently received a second brochure in the name of John Jock McCracken offering the opportunity to take part in a "record-breaking mystery horses" scheme.

The court heard he received a phone call shortly afterwards from someone claiming to be an associate of McCracken.

McClean said: "I received a phone call asking me to pay for another service. The fact I had three winners out of four, I thought I was on to a good thing. I was very interested."

McClean said no specific amount of money was mentioned at this point but he said he wouldn't pay anything unless he could speak to somebody higher up, "preferably McCracken himself".

He told the court that "within minutes" he received a phone call from someone who said, "this is Jock McCracken".

McClean said: "I only remember the price he mentioned, £10,000. He said [the service] was better than the one I had already joined."

The pensioner then said he would need to speak to McCracken face to face and they agreed to meet at McDonalds restaurant at Gatwick airport at 8am on June 12, 2006.

He said McCracken told him to come alone. McClean said he went to meet McCracken with a £10,000 cheque in his pocket because he was "anxious to join" the scheme.

He said: "I asked him what the £10,000 was for. He said I would be getting the best racing information possible. He said by Christmas of that year I would be worth in the region of £100,000. And in three or four years I would be making somewhere in the region of £1 million."

McClean said he gave the cheque to McCracken, explaining: "I thought I'd get horseracing information at least as good if not better than I had already got," adding: "After that he just melted away."

He told the court he was rung by one or two other people on McCracken's behalf, but only to try to sell more services.

McClean attempted to get in touch with McCracken through phone calls and writing only to find the mobile number disconnected and his letter returned.

In cross-examination Matthew Farmer, defending McCracken, said the service being offered was to actually back horses that were going to lose.

McClean denied this and said he didn't know how to put bets on like that.

Asked why he hadn't clarified what special service was being offered for £10,000, McClean replied: "It had worked before three out of four times, you can't argue with that. I wanted to be part of it."

The trial, which is expected to last up to four weeks, continues.

"In cross-examination Matthew Farmer, defending McCracken, said the service being offered was to actually back horses that were going to lose."

I offer that already....:><

Pirhobeta Wrote:

---

> "In cross-examination Matthew Farmer, defending
> McCracken, said the service being offered was to
> actually back horses that were going to lose."
>
> I offer that already....:><


On reading this you might think the old codger is being a silly auld grunt,but these guys are leeches...

Pir,thats the reason i very rarely tip on the forum ,all my horses are very unlucky and should have won ()

Snake oil salesman. Selling an illusion.
We got our own lot here in South Africa...

McCracken would make abusive calls, court told
By Jon Lees 8:20PM 17 JUL 2013 racingpost.com

TWO SISTERS who handed over £12,000 to John McCracken for tips and the chance to be involved in a scheme to import stallions from Australia received "threatening" phone calls when they tried to get their money back, a court heard on Wednesday.

Sarah Missett said she received abusive calls from McCracken and a request from a man claiming to work for the Racing Post to stop contacting the Brighton punter after she tried to track him down.

McCracken, 47, from Brighton, is charged with conspiracy to defraud between April 30, 2003 and February 13, 2008 along with co-defendants self-employed John Brice, 40, from Hove, and Matthew Thole, 40, a company director from Cardiff. They deny the charges.

Giving evidence from behind a screen, Missett told the court that after spending an initial £2,000 to join two betting syndicates for which she believed McCracken provided tips, many of which were unsuccessful, she paid £10,000 to a scheme to purchase horses that promised to turn a profit in three weeks.

Missett described how McCracken "rang my mum with an offer that was unbelievable".

She said: "The group that was organising the betting were going to buy stallions from Australia. The profit was going back to the people giving the money. There'd be a 50 per cent return within three weeks. You could invest as much as you wanted to.

"After three weeks passed - it was probably about four or five weeks - I started to make calls to the office number. I went to the address in Brighton because I wanted the return of my money."

The address was an empty flat but after looking up McCracken on the internet she discovered another Brighton address that proved to be his mother's. After going there she left a message with a neighbour for him to contact her.

"I got a call that night, he said his name was John McCracken," she said. "He was absolutely furious because I had gone to his mother's address.

"He asked me if I was a private investigator and how I found his mother's house. He didn't believe I could find the address on the internet, so he hurled abuse. All I said was I want my money back."

She told the court she received four further phone calls that night from McCracken, which she described as "aggressive, threatening and unreasonable", adding: "I told him providing he answered his phone I would not return to his mother's address."

Then she got a call from a ‘Duncan Smith', who claimed to work at the Racing Post. "‘Duncan Smith' rang me and asked me to stop calling John McCracken because I was upsetting him."

Missett rang the Racing Post to be told there was no Duncan Smith working there.

McCracken refused to deal with her any more, the court heard, and she was passed on to a Michael Chapman, who she said was more open to discussion. McCracken eventually agreed to give £2,000 back to Missett, paid in November 2006.

In cross examination Matthew Farmer, defending McCracken, suggested to Missett that when she rang the pre-recorded betting line service the voice she heard was not McCracken's but a series of different people.

The trial continues.