BoyleSports, Betway & Betfair Named In Latest Court Case Of Fraud

Another case of fraud and theft along with a lack of due diligence and proof of funds failure has been reported by a national newspaper by online operators including BoyleSports, Betway and Betfair.

Andy May was sentenced this week to 4 years for fraud after taking money from his employer to fund his gambling addiction.

The Guardian newspaper reported that senior Manager May who worked for outdoor clothing company Sealskinzde defrauded his company of £1.3 million and gambled large sums with amongst others BoyleSports, Betway and Betfair and although proof of funds were asked by the operators on several occasions he was never refused to gamble.

In documents that Andy May passed to the UK Gambling Commission showing that in a two year period from 2017 to 2019 May lost £600,000 with Betway with over £460,000 of that being stolen funds.

When Betway asked for proof of funds the newspaper says that he doctored false accounting papers and were accepted by the gambling firm.

May also lost some £435,000 with Betfair of which at least £268,000 was stolen from the clothing firm he worked for.

Boylsports never asked May for proof of funds and continued to stake large bets with the firm up until September 2020.

Judge, Anthony Bate said in sentencing May: “This case is a sad and salutary illustration of what can happen when an addiction to gambling runs in this way.”

In response to the court case calls again come for a “single customer view” allowing operators to share details of problem gamblers and allow them to be barred from all licensed operators on a network.

In replying to those calls in fairness all three companies mentioned have agreed in principle to the “single customer view” and it is sure to come into force either by regulators or operators themselves if it can be agreed.

Betway said it had already returned funds to Sealskinz from the theft by May, Flutter, who own Betfair did not make any comment it is reported by the newspaper says that Flutter has a policy of returning stolen funds if proven by a court. BoyleSports said it had “invested significantly” in player protection, but would not comment on a single customer case.