Several officers guarding the royal family at Buckingham Palace have been accused of running a gambling syndicate.

An article in The Sunday Times revealed that Scotland Yard is currently investigating officers working for the royalty protection service, who are believed to have run a gambling syndicate whereby they have gambled millions of pounds from 2001 to 2007.  They are also accused of using police vehicles to courier their cash winnings.

Those believed to be involved haven’t been named for legal reasons.

The offices are thought to have gambled the money on the currency and commodity markets believing they could get minted.

Documents have indicated that the syndicate incurred losses of over £1.1 million to just one of the spread-betting companies they dealt with.  MPs have demanded an inquiry into how senior Buckingham Palace officials failed to uncover the syndicate which ran for six years and the impact this has on royal security.

The syndicate was secretly operated from inside Buckingham Palace and St James’s Palace by royalty protection officers who are trusted with the task of guarding The Queen and members of her family from attack.

It has been alleged that security cameras at the palaces were turned around to make sure there wasn’t video evidence of men handing over envelopes stuffed full of cash.   

The syndicate was called the Currency Club and is a major scandal for the royal family as well as the government, as up to 130 police officers up and down the country are thought to have been involved in the syndicate together with the royalty protection officers.

An unnamed source said in The Sunday Times article, “It was a machine for churning out lots of money.  Sometimes in my house I would have (£100,000) in cash laid out on the floor (ready to be handed out).”

The Currency Club gambling syndicate collapsed last year with many officers incurring huge debts.  According to The Times, one officer has already been charged but he insists he is being made a scapegoat.