Gambling Companies Have Earned £ 1.3 Million Stolen From Betting Addicts

By Matt Speakman,
Betting Expert at online-gambling.com

Matt Speakman Betting Expert at online-gambling.com

A die-hard fan of the Patriots, Matt Speakman is an expert on everything related to sports betting and DFS sites. Over the years, he has proven a valuable asset for our team at online-gambling.com. You can find Speakman's professional tips and tricks in any of his many articles on the website.

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Last updated: June 23, 2021

Gambling companies have made £ 1.3 million in money stolen from a betting addict without knowing where the money came from; new concerns have arisen that companies show their due diligence with gamblers losing large sums of money.

Andy May, 44, was convicted to four years in prison by a Norwich court for fraud after confessing to stealing money from a garment company of which he was a director, which made more than £ 50,000 a year.

According to the gambling magazines provided by The Guardian, Andy has placed lots of bets, some of which were worth over £ 50,000, on companies such as BoyleSports, Betway, and Betfair.

Organizations offered him concessions, for example, free bets and tickets for leagues, rugby matches, football, and race meet, data obtained through an access request from the subject.

The court said May financed her game by stealing more than £ 1.3 million from Outerwear Company Sealskinz, spending about all of it on online betting companies.

Gambling data demonstrate that he lost over £ 600k to Betway between 2017 and 2019, and the court noticed that £ 461k had been stolen. The company only requested him to test his luck after he lost 116k pounds.

Over the next three weeks, his account balance grew to £ 1.2 million in profit, which he lost in 33 days.

Apart from offers such as free tickets and bets for the football match, the series of large bets have not prompted any further action.

About Betfair

Andy May also wasted around £ 437k to Betfair, which is part of the Flutter group, also includes Paddy Power. The court noticed that £ 268k had been stolen.

During the break, when Andy May stopped making big bets, the Betfair VIP manager wrote to him: ” “Long time no speak. I noticed you are depositing less than previously, is everything OK?”

Internal discussions indicate that Betfair employees later learned that they lost £ 270k between 2014 and 2016. The group requested him for proof of his money in February 2017.

BoyleSports was unable to provide any proof of funding despite a surprising series of bets from Andy. Between 28 March and 3 May 2017, Andy made dozens of bets totaling over £ 500k, including one £ 50k bet on football.

Around this time, the balance on his account exceeded 240k pounds sterling, which he lost in 3 days. BoyleSports did not ask for confirmation of money and continuously bombarded him with free bet offers till Sep 2020.

Judge Anthony Bate said in his ruling that this lawsuit is a sorrowful and healthy example of what could happen if a gambling addiction develops in this way.

About Flutter Group

Flutter did not remark on this, but it is clear that if a criminal record suggests that he unknowingly obtained the income of a crime, it is his policy to return the money.

According to Betway, he refunded the money to Sealskinz and reported the possible fraud to the Gambling Commission and the police.

He said that a third-party law firm did not collect proof of false documents but admitted that the records have been fake.