Gambler Sentenced to Four Years for £1.3 Million Fraud

08:59
08 Jul

A gambler has been sentenced to four years in prison for fraud after losing £1.3 million of stolen money at firms such as Betfair, Betway, and BoyleSports. Campaigners are now reinvigorated in their fight for industry reform claiming a lack of due diligence on gamblers who are dropping huge amounts.

---

Insufficient Checks

Andy May, 44, was a senior manager at a clothing firm in Norwich earning a salary of more than £50,000 a year. Good money compared to an average wage. But it wasn’t enough for a man who clearly had a serious problem with gambling and couldn’t stop himself.

He siphoned away the huge sum to place thousands of bets; some staking more than what he earned in a year, but there was very little due diligence done tđo check up on where the deposited funds had come from.

May lost over £600,000 on Betway over a two-year spell, but wasn’t asked to provide proof of income until he was already £116,000 down. Comically, May simply doctored his genuine pay records using Microsoft Paint, a standard free program on every Windows computer, and carried on as he was.

At this point there was no further investigation and May began to receive perks such as free bets and tickets to an England football match. The story with Betfair and BoyleSports is almost identical.

---

Legislation Changes Needed

Campaigners are demanding changes to legislation that allows problem gamblers such as May to just move on when their account is closed. This makes a mockery of any checks and balances that work only in isolation.

Matt Zarb-Cousin, of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling told the media:

“This case highlights the need for a much lower threshold of losses at which checks by operators should be carried out.”

Summing up in his sentencing remarks, Judge Anthony Bate said:

“This case is a sad and salutary illustration of what can happen when an addiction to gambling runs in this way.”

Although BoyleSports refused to comment on individual cases, Flutter—owner of Betfair—will repay the stolen funds. Flutter also made no comment but has a long-standing policy to pay back the victim if the company received proceeds of crime.

Betway has already returned the stolen money to May’s former employer, and said:

“As a responsible leading online gambling company we are actively engaged in the single customer view debate and will consider all workable and legally sound proposals to implement any beneficial aspects of it.”

---

Michigan Woman Sues BetMGM for $3.2 Million

A legal spat is underway in Michigan after a Detroit woman took BetMGM to court after it refused to pay out her account balance of $3.2 million. The state-regulated site claims that Jacqueline Davis, 36, was the benefactor of a glitch in a St. Patrick’s Day-themed game and her winnings are all null and void.

Incredibly, Davis ran her account balance up to a whopping $11 million before losing almost $8 million in a crazy five-day betting spree.

Davis was able to withdraw $100,000 before being told she would not receive the rest of the winnings. Her lawsuit contends that this payment is acceptance of the legitimacy of the big win.

BetMGM apparently offered a deal where she could keep the $100,000 and sign a confidentiality agreement, later upgraded to the addition of $23,000 in cash or $75,000 in credits for the website. Davis declined this offer and is hoping a sympathetic judge will soon rule in her favour.