A band of "greedy" middle-aged women masterminded a £21 million get-rich-quick scheme - fleecing at least 10,000 victims, including some from Gwent.

The group used mass emails and "champagne celebration nights" to encourage women to "beg, borrow or steal" £3,000 to invest in the scam.

Victims were lured by the promise they would receive a £24,000 payout when they reached the top of their pyramid chart, with organisers promising they "could not lose".

The scheme, called Give and Take (G&T), quickly spread from Bath and Bristol to Gloucestershire, Somerset, Devon and South Wales between May 2008 and April 2009.

Committee members behind the scheme pocketed up to £92,000 each, while as many as 88% of their victims lost between £3,000 and £15,000.

G&T, also known as Key to a Fortune, was kept under a veil of secrecy as members were forbidden from writing about it to protect the organisers.

But the pyramid was uncovered when a disgruntled employer in Bristol complained to Trading Standards that it was being promoted in his workplace.

Eleven women, aged between 34 and 69, became the first in the UK to be prosecuted for such a scheme, under new legislation in the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Act 2008.

Six of the women have been sentenced, while a further three will be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court in October.

One woman was acquitted of promoting the scheme, while two juries failed to reach a verdict for another woman on the same charge.

Judge Mark Horton, who banned reporting of the case until today, said: "This particular scheme caused a loss to the general public of around £19 million. A number of these women suffered enormous and in some cases lifelong financial hardship due to their involvement in this scheme.

"The public need to be aware that schemes like this lead to the destruction of lifelong friendships and families and in some cases whole communities."

On Wednesday, charts co-ordinator Mary Nash, 65, committee secretary Susan Crane, 68, and games co-ordinator Hazel Cameron, 54, pleaded guilty to charges of operating and promoting the scheme.

The women were due to face a retrial, after a jury failed to reach verdicts in their cases in 2013.

In 2012, Sally Phillips, 34, of Hengrove, Jane Smith, 50, of Bishopsworth, both Bristol, and Rita Lomas, 49, of Whitchurch, Somerset, admitted promoting the scheme.

Phillips received a three-month suspended prison sentence, Smith a four-month suspended sentence and Lomas a four-and-a-half month suspended sentence.

Following a five-month trial in 2012, chairman Laura Fox, 69, treasurer Jennifer Smith-Hayes, 69, and venue organiser Carol Chalmers, were convicted of operating and promoting the scheme.

Fox, of East Harptree, Smith-Hayes of Bishopsworth and Chalmers, of Weston-super-Mare, were sentenced to nine months imprisonment. They have now served their sentences.

No verdict was reached following two trials of Tracey Laurence, 60, of Bradley Stoke, while Rhalina Yuill, 34, of St George, Bristol, was acquitted of promoting the scheme on her second trial.

The scheme operated on pyramid charts with 15 spaces on - each space filled with a participant who paid £3,000 and introduced two friends who also paid that amount.

Once the chart was filled, the eight people on the bottom of the chart paid their £3,000 to the person at the top, called the "Bride".

Payouts were collected at glitzy champagne parties, where "Brides" were asked a series of simple questions before being handed the £24,000 on a silver platter.

Questions included "what is the name of the big tower in Paris" and "what type of animal is a Great Dane", with the option to ask a friend if the "Bride" did not know the answer.

A set £1,000 fee from the payout was deducted, with £600 shared between charities and £400 used to pay committee costs.

Miles Bennett, who prosecuted both trials, told how parties took place at the Battleborough Grange Hotel in Burnham-on-Sea, owned by Carol Chalmers.

Mobile phone footage recorded at one party showed Laura Fox shouting: "We are gambling in our own homes and that's what makes it legal."

Mr Bennett described the evenings as a "commercial practise", with minutes from committee meetings showing how £240,000 in cash was paid out one evening.

"This wasn't a kitchen hobby, this was a scheme that sucked in a lot of people and which worked on the promise of them receiving riches way beyond their initial investment," he said.

Minutes from meetings reveal "sheer indignation" that a "Bride" had brought cava instead of champagne to celebrate her payout, and some women were chewing gum.

Mr Bennett said those who attended the meetings were promised a £23,000 payout from their £3,000 investment.

"It is clear that, blinded by the possibility of riches and quick bucks, people were quite prepared to ignore the bleeding obvious pitfalls of a pyramid scheme", he said.

Speaking after the case, Alex Chisholm of the Competition and Markets Authority, said the case would be a "warning for consumers".

"The vast majority of consumers stand to lose their money from such schemes," Mr Chisholm said. " The adage remains, that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

 


 

Caldicot victim tells of anger at scam

A father-of-four who invested into the Give and Take scheme has been struggling financially for the last five years - after he failed to receive a payout.

Dave Gough, from Caldicot in South Wales, paid £3,000 to join the scheme in 2009 after being told "nobody would lose".

The driving instructor, who has four sons, never reached the 'Bride' payout position so lost his investment and is still paying it off.

Mr Gough was initially dubious of the scheme but caved in after three months of persuasion and began to plan his future with his winnings.

"It sounded absolutely fantastic, there was no way I was going to lose," he told BBC News.

"I was told it was backed by major solicitors and barristers in the Bristol area and it was all legal. Nobody would lose because the scheme would just keep going and going and going.

"They gave the impression there was nothing illegal about it. There was no con, nobody could lose.

"Initially, like anyone else I thought this sort of scheme was too good to be true, but when someone keeps going on and on and you hear from other people who have had payouts from it, then you do reach a point when you think, hold on, this is a good scheme."

Mr Gough said he began to make plans with his family for the £23,000 they expected to receive once he reached the top of his chart.

"We thought were were going to get this money, definitely," he said.

"We had a little dream that we could sort out our debts, because everyone has debts, loans and so forth, and perhaps have a clean slate to start again."

Mr Gough issued a stark warning to others considering joining a pyramid scheme.

"Four years on I'm still living with the consequences. There's still an amount of that money that I'm still paying back now," he said.

"Obviously it affected my other finances, so for the last four years we've struggled and we're still struggling now - all because of being conned out of £3,000.

"Don't do it. If it's too good to be true, it is too good to be true. It's a big con. It doesn't matter if it's your friends or relative, you stand to lose your money.

"Some people will make some money from it but the majority will lose all their money.

"It makes you really angry that there are people out there who are prepared to do this to ordinary people who work hard and haven't got a lot of money."


 

Woman lost £15,000

Another victim, Shirley - not her real name - was invited to a meeting at Laura Fox's home through a neighbour who had won £23,000.

At the meeting, Shirley watched as £69,000 in cash was paid out to three winners and heard a talk about how the scheme worked.

She was told the scheme was legal and a barrister had drawn up a statement confirming this, as it was classed as in-house gambling.

"I wasn't sure about joining so I went to other meetings, where I heard the same explanation," she said.

"I spoke to a number of people about how the scheme worked and how long it had taken them to get their payouts.

"Together with seeing the payouts, this is what convinced me to join the scheme."

Shirley joined a chart in around June 2008 and paid £3,000 the following month, as well as £3,000 for two friends.

Shirley never received a payout, meaning she lost £12,000, her partner £3,000, while a friend who also paid onto the scheme lost £3,000.

Another victim, known as Liz, was introduced to the scheme by a work colleague, who sent a picture of herself receiving a payout of £23,000.

"I was told to come to a meeting and see how it worked for myself," Liz said.

"At the meeting there was a presentation about the scheme and photographs of winners with their money.

"I was assured my investment would be bought out if the chart I was on was struggling and I would get help to keep the charts moving.

"I became convinced that the scheme was safe and legal, so I joined in July 2008 and handed over my £3,000."

On the evening Liz paid out her first amount of money, she watched £184,000 in cash being paid to eight winners.

Liz was so convinced by the scheme that she joined a second chart, handing over another £3,000.

She then joined three more times, paying £9,000 more.

Liz attended a meeting at Battleborough Hotel, which was so full that potential recruits were split into two groups for presentations about the scheme.

Despite paying out £15,000, Liz never received any winnings.