Sim­ply The Bets boss Michael Pryde was grilled in bank­rupt­cy hear­ing over pri­ori­tised’ pay­ments. The bank­rupt fraud­ster behind one of Sydney’s most high-pro­file bet­ting scams has been accused of using mis­ap­pro­pri­at­ed funds to repay hun­dreds of thou­sands of dol­lars owed to fam­i­ly and friends instead of jilt­ed clients, a court has heard.

Court doc­u­ments reveal he repaid the pair a com­bined $600,000 dur­ing the same time peri­od — mon­ey Michael Hayter, lawyer for the bank­rupt­cy trustee, sug­gest­ed should have been used to pay Sim­ply The Bets cred­i­tors instead.

Mean­while, Pryde revealed he was sub­ject to threats and harass­ment when he was ini­tial­ly arrest­ed and charged in March 2023. When asked to detail the threats and who made them, Pryde said he couldn’t remem­ber. It mustn’t have been that bad if you can’t remem­ber them,” Mr Hayter said.

To read the full arti­cle click here 

If you would like to repub­lish this arti­cle, it is gen­er­al­ly approved, but pri­or to doing so please con­tact the Mar­ket­ing team at marketing@​swaab.​com.​au. This arti­cle is not legal advice and the views and com­ments are of a gen­er­al nature only. This arti­cle is not to be relied upon in sub­sti­tu­tion for detailed legal advice.

Publications

The Paper­cut Deci­sion and the Cur­rent Posi­tion on WFH

The FWC’s John­son v Paper­Cut Soft­ware deci­sion has renewed debate about the lim­its of work­ing from home rights. While some have…

Valen­tine’s Day in the Work­place (2026 Edition)

Valentine’s Day may appear harm­less, but in work­places it can cre­ate legal and cul­tur­al risks. Even well‑meant roman­tic ges­tures can…

Aus­tralia Day Sub­sti­tu­tion: The Legal Issues (2026 Edition)

As more major employ­ers allow staff to work on Aus­tralia Day and take the pub­lic hol­i­day lat­er, impor­tant legal ques­tions…

In the News

Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, Antho­ny Albanese’s moves to sack Pauline Hanson’s One Nation staffers comes under legal threat”, pub­lished in the Aus­tralian on 28 Feb­ru­ary 2026

Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, ​“Antho­ny Albanese’s moves to sack Pauline Hanson’s One Nation staffers comes under legal…

Michael Byrnes appeared on Mon­ey News with James Willis on 2GB, 3AW, 4BC and 6PR on 24 Feb­ru­ary 2026 to dis­cuss the pro­pos­al to dis­cuss the impact of AI on claims before the Fair Work Commission

Michael Byrnes appeared on Mon­ey News with James Willis on 2GB, 3AW, 4BC and 6PR on 24 Feb­ru­ary 2026 to…

More than harm­less fun: How Valentine’s Day can blur the line between cel­e­bra­tion and harassment

Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, ​“More than harm­less fun: How Valentine’s Day can blur the line between cel­e­bra­tion…

Sign up for our Newsletter

*Mandatory information