My flu has manifested itself into an intense cold and my teeth are rotting out from all of the cough drops I've had this week. I think my lung just plopped onto the floor from my coughing.

The news has been increasingly boring lately. Every news outlet is republishing the same stories about the new anti-internet gambling legislation in the United States. Yes, depositing into an online casino, poker room, or sports book from any financial institution in the US is now illegal. Yes, every reputable casino, poker room, or sports book on the internet has now blocked US accounts. Yes, online gambling stocks have tanked. Yes countries have been negatively affected through companies downsizing or shutting down, especially Antigua, Barbuda, Gibraltar, and Israel. We know all that. It seems like the fire has gone out and only the fizzle is left. Fizzle doesn't make for interesting news. The most interesting thing I could find was a tragic story of a sick and wrong individual who stole money from his clients and spent £2.3 million on internet gambling.

Philip Smith was a financial adviser who conned his clients and stole their money. For this he's only going to jail for nine years. It's not enough.

Smith, formerly of Bowdon, Greater Manchester, pleaded guilty to offences against him including theft, forgery and money laundering. He targeted the elderly and vulnerable, and used people's credit cards for betting and living a high lifestyle. Over fifty people were victimized by Smith. One woman in her 80s lost more than £200,000.

While passing sentence at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on Monday, Judge Lakin wasted his breath and told Smith that as a financial advisor his clients had put their trust in him.

"You breached that trust placed in you in a cold and calculated way," he said.

"You deliberately targeted elderly and vulnerable people. Being the consummate fraudster you are, you drew them into a web of deceit and conned them out of a substantial amount of money.

"This was dishonesty on a truly breathtaking scale."

Smith didn't just gamble online with his stolen funds. He lived a lavish lifestyle as well. He had holiday homes in North Wales and the Costa del Sol and even had the nerve to invite his clients to visit him there. The houses were paid for with the money he stole from them.

He stole from his own brother.

The article on this news story focuses on the money Smith spent in online casinos. It only touches on the money he sent to offshore bank accounts or the expensive things he bought. Why is it that whenever a crook gambles online every news story is written in a way to blame online gambling? What about blaming the expensive cars, houses, or trips he took?

The BBC News gives some confusing information, stating that, "Smith pleaded guilty to stealing almost £1.8m over a 15-year period, though police believe he took at least another £500,000 from his clients." But then added that, "He used at least 70 credit cards belonging to his clients to make online bets worth £2 million and siphoned off at least £500,000 of this into his own account."

Do you see where my confusion lies? He stole almost £1.8m over a 15-year period. Then they add other things he did, which are more than £1.8m. When he used his client's credit cards he was stealing from them. It may not have been directly from their accounts, but it's still stealing. This means in reality he stole close to £5m if you have £2m in online gambling, include the other £500,000 police think he took and the other £500,000 he siphoned off from the credit cards for things other than gambling.

I guess it doesn't really matter how much he stole at this point. He should be in jail for much more than he will be.

The Manchester Police believe this was one of the biggest cases of theft by an individual it has ever investigated.

Det Con John Ashington, who worked on the investigation for 18 months, said: "Philip Smith was a man driven by greed, selfishness and ultimately desperation.

"He has left not only financial chaos and devastation in his wake, but also dozens of decent and hard-working people feeling shocked, shattered, betrayed and angry.

"I have seen at first hand the misery and distress that Smith has caused and I sincerely hope I do not have to deal with another case like this ever again."

Mr Ashington said he hoped the case would serve to remind people to check the credentials of financial advisors with the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

Posted on: November 2, 2006

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