Report: Betting firms won £1.3 million in stolen money from "gambling addict"

[The Buzz]

On Monday, a U.K. court sentenced a man to four years for fraud after admitting siphoning funds from the clothing company where he was a senior manager earning £50,000 a year.

According to an article in The Guardian, 44-year-old Andy May placed "thousands of bets, some of more than £50,000," with companies including Betfair, Betway, and BoyleSports. The operators gave him incentives, such as free bets and tickets to race meets, football and rugby matches, and, on at least one occasion, reached out to him directly.

From The Guardian:

May funded his gambling by stealing more than £1.3m from the outdoor clothing company Sealskinz, the court heard, spending almost all of it with online gambling firms.

Betting records show that he lost more than £600,000 with Betway between January 2017 and January 2019, and the court heard that £461,000 of it came from stolen funds.

The firm only asked him for evidence of his wealth after he had lost £116,000. It accepted financial statements, which May told the Guardian he had doctored using Microsoft Paint.

In one three-week spree that followed, winning bets took his account balance up to £1.2m, which he then lost over 33 days.

The series of huge bets prompted no further intervention other than offers such as free bets and tickets to an England football match.

May also lost an estimated £437,000 with Betfair, part of the Flutter group that includes Paddy Power. The court heard that £268,000 of this was stolen.

During a lull when he stopped placing huge bets, a Betfair VIP manager sent him a message saying: “Long time no speak. I noticed you are depositing less than previously, is everything OK?”

Read the article here: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknew...BingNewsSearch

[gil.langelaan]

Saw this article on The Guardian
What a huge sums?!
Can't imagine how do you feel when you lost such money...

[rouxx]

On Monday, a U.K. court sentenced a man to four years for fraud after admitting siphoning funds from the clothing company where he was a senior manager earning £50,000 a year.

According to an article in The Guardian, 44-year-old Andy May placed "thousands of bets, some of more than £50,000," with companies including Betfair, Betway, and BoyleSports. The operators gave him incentives, such as free bets and tickets to race meets, football and rugby matches, and, on at least one occasion, reached out to him directly.

From The Guardian:

As more i live, as more i do not understand why people just become crazy about money? 50k wtf! Huge sums, really. I`m not condemn him, but it is a crazy one.

[mickyfu]

Four years wow. Pretty sad in broken Britain, 4 years in jail rather than help him overcome his issue. That is what the Gambling Commission is there for, right? Where is his support from the Gambling Commission?

[Cash Bonus]

Really sad and unfortunate for this gambling addict. This man is in need of professional help, to break out of the vicious cycle that he's in. Who knows what he's capable of doing next, once he's let out of prison after serving 4 years.