Syndicate leader bashed as punters fear huge fleecing Bill Vlahos resigns hours after bashing Bashing and arson attack could be linked to a high-profile punters club that has lost track of millions of dollars. PT1M36S http://www.smh.com.au/action/externalEmbeddedPlayer?id=d-2z1o6 620 349 December 10, 2013 - 7:38AM The gigantic punting club run by racing identity Bill Vlahos may have taken as much as $500 million from its 1000 members without laying any bets, Fairfax Media has learnt. New details about the punters club, The Edge, emerged on Monday after a day during which Mr Vlahos was beaten up on his property and walked away from his BC3 Thoroughbreds horse racing empire. Administrators were called in to take over its operations. While powerless to take any action over The Edge, Racing Victoria stewards on Monday launched an investigation into BC3, which owns a string of horses including champion mare Black Caviar's $5 million half-brother "Jimmy." Trainer Danny O'Brien (left) and Bill Vlahos inspect the half-sister to Black Caviar that Mr Vlahos bought for $2.6 million in 2012. Corporate documents show that bloodstock agent Inglis holds mortgages over Jimmy and 10 other horses that the company sold to BC3 this year, raising the possibility it might seek to seize the thoroughbreds. A meeting of members of The Edge on Sunday was told that more than 1000 people could be affected by the implosion of the scheme. Sources said the amount could be as much as $500 million invested in the scheme. Questions are now being asked as to whether the group actually placed bets, with major betting firms throughout Australasia reporting they had not handled any wagers from the group. After early returns of 21.1 per cent each quarter, the group paid out 46.4 per cent on clients' money in the final quarter of 2012. The syndicate began to implode when several clients took their money out following the bonanza result. One corporate bookmaker said the Australian racing gambling market could not have coped with the mammoth volume of funds The Edge claimed to be betting. "If you had $200 million in capital and have to pay out $50 million a year, that's an awful lot of winners, and quite frankly the national system would not cope," he said. Some of the smartest and most sophisticated gamblers in Australia may derive 5 per cent to perhaps 10 per cent margin on profit in a very good year, so the promise of a 25 per cent return must be total nonsense. Mr Vlahos' resignation as a director of three companies in the BC3 group on Monday came hours after he was bashed and a car was torched on one of his properties. The bashing followed an appearance before the NSW Supreme Court on Friday during which Mr Vlahos' lawyer said his client had received threats and was concerned for his safety. Documents filed with the corporate regulator show Mr Vlahos' resignation left the BC3 group's chief executive, former Richmond Football Club general manager of football Craig Cameron, as the sole office-bearer of BC3 Thoroughbreds, BC3 Holdings and Grace Park. Insolvency experts Michael Hird and Trent Hancock of Moore Stephens were appointed administrators on Monday afternoon. On Sunday night police responded to reports of an assault at a property owned by Mr Vlahos on Randles Road, Connewarre, south-west of Melbourne. Police said the victim was a 48-year-old Torquay man, who sources have confirmed was Mr Vlahos. He was treated at the scene for minor injuries. A car on the property was engulfed in flames. It took four fire trucks to put out the fire.