Former Hereford United winger Michael McIndoe has caught players such as Robbie Keane and Jimmy Bullard in a £30M scam according to the Mail on Sunday. The story has been circulating for months but the paper claims it has some new facts about those involved.
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Up to 300 players might have been taken in by McIndoe.
In essence McIndoe told players he had set up a miracle investment scheme that paid 20% interest per month from investments in gold, stocks and property.
However payments to players soon stopped as the scheme, which was described as a 'simple Ponzi scheme', fell apart in 2012.
Several Wolves, Aston Villa and Coventry players were caught out. A consortium of Wolves played are said to have put over £1M in cash in a single payment into McIndoe's scam.
The paper also claims McIndoe tried to throw matches.
One League Two player said he was approached.
"He tried to get me to throw matches. He said he'd give me £10K to get sent off. I wasn't interested," he said.
Someone who knew McIndoe and is now a manager in the Football League summed up the situation.
"I feel badly let down by a mate. Nobody knows the full scale of the fraud. He is an unbelievable manipulator of people."