Michael McIndoe court case: Former Wolves player 'surviving on handouts'

Michael McIndoe pursued a millionaire's lifestyle while allegedly running a scam that snared a string of footballers including six former and current Wolves players.

The 35-year-old, who was made bankrupt in October last year with more than £2 million debts, told a hearing that he was surviving on the generosity of 'good friends and family'.

"Since the bankruptcy, my girlfriend gave me some cash in July and I believe the trustee's solicitors are pressing for that money to be paid back," he told the hearing in London.

"I have received some money from friends, around £9,000, and some money from NatWest for overcharging me on an account.

"But I have no income."

He added that he was not claiming Jobseekers' Allowance and said his legal representatives were working without fee.

Questioned by barrister Mr Andrew Carruth, on behalf of the trustees of his bankrupt estate, he said he had not bet for two years and that reports of his previous gambling accounts topping £1 million were 'vastly over rated'.

He said that £1.5 million owed to one creditor had been invested into the trendy private members London nightclub, Stamp, he launched in 2011 but was later closed.

He also denied that he sold a property in Edinburgh at a cheap rate as part of a panic selling reaction to his financial meltdown.

The Express & Star previously revealed how six current and former Wolves players lost hundreds of thousands of pounds in the scheme and how he spent thousands of pounds gambling on football matches.

Furious creditors are demanding answers to where there money has gone but McIndoe, who lives with his mother in Edinburgh, said he had no property and his only bank account had been frozen.

McIndoe, who also played for Coventry and Doncaster, is alleged to have run an investment scheme promising a 20 per cent return on investment that proved hugely popular among the cash-rich football community.

Syndicates sprang up around the country and representatives would get monthly pay-outs at a West End hotel. McIndoe indulged in a playboy lifestyle hiring huge villas in Marbella, driving a fleet of expensive cars and hiring celebrities to sing at lavish parties. But last year, it is claimed, the funds dried up and McIndoe was investigated.

Around 100 footballers from the Premier to lower leagues are believed to have invested in the scheme.

McIndoe told the court he had co-operated with the official receiver and had handed over documents ahead of a meeting with trustees next week.

The bankruptcy hearing was adjourned till June 17.