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January 26, 2006updated 22 Nov 2022 6:07pm

Bhoyrul: we were boys being boys

By Press Gazette

From an article written for Press Gazette by Anil Bhoyrul in March 2000.

“So
why did I buy shares that I knew I was tipping? I can look back now and
say what the hell did I do that for, but it was hardly a secret at the
time.

I bought shares in my own name, told everyone about it and
bought everyone a drink with my profits. No one had a problem with it.

“If
I’d wanted to make a fortune, it would have been very easy: Buy every
single share before I tip it, do it through a nominee account and sell
the very next day. I could have really “filled my boots”. I didn’t and
would never do that. Strangely, if I had, I would never have got caught
and still be in a job. My mistake was being open… “But someone,
somehow, was getting hold of our tips beforehand. That’s why many would
shoot up the day before publication. One afternoon, I was on the phone
to someone getting a tip.

Before I ended the conversation, I saw the price rise 38 per cent. Word had already got out that we were tipping.

“Those
are the guys the DTI should be after – the ones who used the column to
line their pockets. They are the ones who made a killing and they are
still out there doing it to some other unsuspecting soul.

“So I
don’t believe I ever once abused the trust of Mirror readers. Maybe,
with hindsight, I took advantage of my position to have the odd punt
myself. In the same way we have all used our press cards to get airline
upgrades, free football tickets and so on.

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“But every share tip I
ever gave was with the best intentions, based on what I felt was good
information. Looking back, we were just boys being boys, having a
laugh, and it all got out of hand.

“Surely the only reason that anyone buys shares is that they hope they’ll go up. Is that dodgy?

“All
the people now trying to distance themselves from me and push me into a
corner to carry the can should remember this: I won’t be anyone’s fall
guy.”

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

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