Sport Investment Fraud & Mis-selling

Find out how to spot an investment fraud, and what you can do if you are affected

Stopping sport investment fraud in its tracks

Professional sportspeople put their body and soul into becoming the very best they can be. And, because getting to the top takes everything they have, they often rely on professional advisors to look after them in other areas.

Unfortunately however, thousands of sportsmen and women have put their trust in the wrong people. As a result of being targeted by unscrupulous financial advisors and banks, many have lost fortunes due to financial scams.

Persuaded to invest in risky, unregulated, and unsuitable investment schemes involving wine, movies, property, or other such ventures, promises of big returns did not materialise. Instead, victims of sports investment fraud are facing losses ranging from a few thousand to millions of pounds.

Keen to right this wrong, we are helping professional athletes who have fallen victim to financial scams get their money back. What’s more, because prevention is better than cure, we are also raising awareness of this issue to prevent investment and financial fraud in sport happening in the first place.

It’s time to fight back

Many sportsmen and sportswomen in England & Wales have been encouraged to invest in toxic or illegal investment schemes. Those affected could be owed hundreds of thousands of pounds (if not more).

Who has been affected?

High-net-worth athletes in a range of sports have been targeted.

Up to 100 footballers, including Robbie Keane, Jimmy Bullard and Gabby Agbonlahor, were victims of a toxic Ponzi scheme set up by ex-player Michael McIndoe. Investors lost a combined £30 million, while the few that were paid dividends were eventually made to hand back any money received. One innocent investor and former player was given just 14 days to repay £1.6 million.

Top footballers lost a staggering amount of money after investing in supposedly high-yield investments and tax avoidance schemes recommended by Kingsbridge Asset Management. Investors faced crippling tax bills after the schemes went bad. Individual losses ranged from hundreds of thousands to several millions of pounds.

Were you mis-sold or defrauded?

A professional sportsperson might have been mis-sold or defrauded if:

They have lost a significant amount of money in an investment, even if they saw an initial profit.

They were persuaded to invest into high-risk and exotic investments such as overseas property, wine, commodities, cryptocurrency or unlisted shares, and have lost money or can’t access their investments.

They were targeted by unscrupulous professional advisors because of their high-net-worth.

The negligence of their financial advisor has (or could have) made them worse off in life.

Their advisers failed to explain the risk, fees, charges and details of any investments recommended.

Get the answers to your sports investment fraud questions.

Our Champions

We are working with a range of partners, affiliates, and other organisations in the fight against financial sports fraud.

The Investment Fraud APPG

We are proud to support the Investment Fraud All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) fighting investment fraud in sport.

Phoenix Sport & Media Group

We have partnered with Phoenix Sport & Media Group to provide financial education workshops and anti-fraud presentations to professional sportsmen and women across the UK.