Gambler warned he faces jail over £34m pyramid scheme

A 51-year-old businessman has been found guilty of 14 charges of theft and deception after running a "pyramid" scheme that amassed around £34m. As Wyre Davies reports, Kevin Foster targeted small communities in south Wales.

"If something looks too good to be true, it probably is." That is a saying I've heard many times while investigating this story.

It is not clear why so many people, thousands of otherwise rational men and women, gave large amounts of money to an ex-cabbie simply because he said he could give them five times as much back after two years. To me Kevin Foster looks, sounds and acts like a stereotypical conman.

He is uncouth, wears loud shirts and brags an awful lot about how much money he has.

Yet Foster obviously had enough charisma and confidence to persuade at least 8,000 "investors" to part with an estimated £34m.

As Mark Hutcherson takes a break from playing the euphonium with the Bedwas, Trethomas and Machen Brass Band he tells me how he became entangled in Kevin Foster's elaborate web.

Foster was undoubtedly clever and very convincing. With his "KF Concept" roadshow he deliberately targeted small valleys communities in south Wales, where everyone seems to know everyone else.

It would start with a local sports team, in this case Bedwas Rugby Club, and perhaps an offer to sponsor the shirts of the local team.
Then Foster would organise a roadshow in the clubhouse where locals were asked to "invest" a minimum of £1,000 - with a guarantee that within two years they would get that money back many times over.

The "hook" that persuaded people to part with their £1,000 cheques was simple but clever.

To prove his bona-fides and just how generous he was, Foster would draw several names from a hat at each roadshow and give the lucky investor their £5,000 immediately.

At bigger roadshows, where several hundred people would attend, the prizes were also bigger - free luxury holidays and even free cars.

They were genuine prizes but ultimately paid for, of course, by the many more ordinary investors who put in at least £1,000 and got nothing at all back.

Mr Hutcherson and other band members heard about the scheme through their friends in the rugby club across the park.

"Of course some of us were sceptical and worried about handing over a cheque for £1,000," he says. "But nobody wanted to be left out and miss the chance to make a tidy profit."

Mr Hutcherson and most other members of the band chalk the experience down to one of life's tough lessons.

As he resumes rehearsals, one lasting regret he has is that he emptied his children's saving accounts to invest with Foster - a tiny part of the £34m the conman from Kent is believed to have amassed.

Other investors took a much, much bigger hit. Another victim from south Wales, who lost almost £180,000 with Kevin Foster, did not want to be named but told the BBC he was up to eyes in debt.

"I couldn't afford to lose this money - which I only found by remortgaging my house and borrowing on credit cards," he said.
"My hope of an early retirement at the age of 55 is simply not going to happen. I never thought that I was stupid, but I was convinced by him, and thousands of other were too."

Marriages have broken up, lifelong friendships have been ruined and a lot of people have lost a lot of money. Kevin Foster has much to answer for.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) says he was running nothing more than a classic "Pyramid" scheme.

"It was a scam - getting people to invest their money on the promise of a big return. It was robbing Peter to pay Paul and, like all such schemes, it inevitably collapsed," says Kathleen Harris, Head of Policy & Standards at the SFO.

Kevin Foster lived a lavish lifestyle with all the trappings of luxury - a huge, converted farmhouse near** Kent, with swimming pool, jacuzzi and even a private zoo.

With expensive sports cars including a Ferrari Spyder, Foster certainly did not hide his wealth - but it was all paid for with other people's money, most of which has never been recovered.

A professional gambler has been found guilty

No, a professional CONMAN has been found guilty.

spot on gallivanter !

a proven conman !!

This con-man gives geniune ,hard working Pro gamblers a bad name imo

what name was he posting on here then?

I bet he wasn't a dog owner.
No person having a dog has ever run a pyramid scheme.
Fact.
Odds anyone ?

There's a lot of 'professional gamblers' who are nothing more than fraudsters these days.

He is not a professional gambler he is a Ponzi scheme fraudster.

low income better off than the working class ! what a joke !!
--------------------------------------------------------
Unfortunately this is fact.
Most i know (redundant,3+kids) are in some cases £150-£250 better off than the job they lost and in no hurry to find another.
Add to that figure the free school meals,dentist,prescription,council tax and dicounted round of golf (3 per week in my mates case).
Still as long as enough of us work to pay the tax to finance it.
Worst thing though,when the worker is sick and loses days he loses pay.
When the workshy feels ill,he will comfortably stay in bed on the same hourly rate.

well said clough and taylor, well said !

69 , if you had a maths brain you might realise that with individuals putting up as much as £180,000 it makes the average sum lost a lot higher

^100%, use the fella to teach people, not lock him away

me neither !

probably go home and smash the mrs about !

nowt wrong with Maggie mate,

gave the lower class a chance to own their council property !

dont see labour doing anything apart from giving property to immigrants who dont deserve them !!

maggie child ? you bet your life i am ! and proud !!

He certainly picked on the right part of Britain for it to work.

he did where they all have loadsa money ! and the m25 is littered with bentleys

soixanteneuf 10 Mar 14:00
nowt wrong with Maggie mate,

gave the lower class a chance to own their council property !

The real benefit came to the property investors as the council property tenants were ecstatic to be able to sell on their property for a minuscule profit. This was just a cheap trick to get voters that has a long term detrimental effect. It was like giving money away, but money always finds its way back to those who know how to handle it.
Other western countries like Holland still have a fairly large supply of council property which helps to keep rent affordable.

Agree with another poster that people on benefits can be better off than those that are working though. I remember hearing about a couple. The husband got certain disability allowances and the wife was a housewife. When the wife got a minimum wage job cleaning hotel rooms, the husband's benefits were cut to the extent that after paying for travel, they were actually worse off than if she didn't work at all! Crazy systems like that aren't going to help to get people to work.

nowt wrong with Maggie mate,

gave the lower class a chance to own their council property !

Bribes that had to be paid for later in the shape of increased council tax to replace the loss of rents. On top of that, with decent council houses no longer on offer, she set up the working classes for the great endownment mortgage swindle organised by her pals in the city. Was it not Labour who ordered the swindlers to compensate their victims?

If there's a support group for those who fell foul of this 34m pyramid scheme then anyone taken in by Thatcher should consider joining so that they canl be among their own kind.

soixanteneuf 09 Mar 19:52


come on lets be honest how may low income families do you know who can part with £4200 .

im really sorry to say this but im more disturbed by low income low life unemployed bums , (not all unemployed are bums) but the ones who have no intention of working, getting their hands on £4200 cash than the man who committed the crime..

this surely indicates how britain has sank to gutter levels !

low income better off than the working class ! what a joke !!

You need a hard reality check my friend.