Pretend Stock Trader Loses Investors’ Money to Sports Wagers

Details of a scheme involving fake trading on the stock market emerged late last week and saw two people lose substantial sums. A 30-year-old man from Auckland, New Zealand, admitted he engaged in an elaborate scheme, tricking two of his friends into investing money whereas he actually gambled the money on sports wagers. The man, identified as Joshua Calvert, was interviewed by the New Zealand Herald, and admitted that he collected some NZ$60,000 ($37,500) from two of his friends, pretending to be a stock broker that invested their money.

Calvert reportedly collected the money and tricked the two people that he would invest it in stocks for the US and New Zealand exchanges. The investment reportedly included sports hedge bets. To ensure no suspicion is raised, Calvert sent financial statements, showing an increase in the funds and a monthly return with profits varying in percentage depending on the investment.

Tens of Thousands Lost to Gambling

While this sounds well, in reality, the statements were falsified, there were no actual investments in stocks and Calvert lost the money to sports bets. According to the recent report, financial statements that were sent by the 30-year-old man were actually falsified. What’s more, Calvert admitted that he doesn’t have a registration with the Financial Service Providers Register, which is mandatory for businesses doing such trades.

The man, who was diagnosed with ADHD and is believed to have an “addictive personality,” had a demo trader’s account. But when Calvert collected the money from two of his friends, he decided to “invest” them in sports wagers by coming up with a hedging scheme that’s low risk and guarantees a return.

The fake broker lost the money between 2021 and 2022. Initially, Calvert followed the hedging scheme that was supposedly going to guarantee his wins from sports wagers. But once that scheme failed, he started placing riskier bets, until eventually losing all of the money he had taken from his friends to “invest.”

Jordan Sandford, one of the men who gave Calvert a substantial amount, thought he was investing and described the pretend broker’s actions as “intentional, methodical deception.” Sadly, Sandford lost all of his savings by giving them to Calvert.

Once the scheme was uncovered, Sandford contacted the Financial Markets Authority as well as the Serious Fraud Office. The two agencies did not investigate the case but in November, Sandford contacted the police. Reportedly, an investigation into Calvert’s actions is still ongoing.