High-roller who’s suing Ladbrokes for £3m he lost betting
£400k-a-week gambler says his wagers were ‘illegal’
‘On friendly terms with staff’
A GAMBLER is suing a major betting company for more than £3million over claims he was allowed to place bets illegally from Spain.
Terry Allan was such a prolific gambler he had a direct telephone line to a branch of Ladbrokes Coral in his native Aberdeen, according to court documents.
The businessman spent more than £1million a year with the bookmaker between 2016 and 2018.
Now Mr Allan, 57, wants his losses returned because it is illegal to place bets with a UK bookmaker from Spain. He claims the company deliberately ignored the legislation and alleges that senior management turned a ‘blind eye’ in order to keep taking his bets.
The recruitment specialist would gamble around £400,000 a week through the Rose Street branch, making thousands of individual bets.
In his claim, Mr Allan said that many of his bets were placed while he was at his holiday home in Southern Spain.
Because of this, he says, he should be reimbursed all the money he staked, less the amount he has won. He is also seeking the return of stakes from 2014 and 2015 but has not yet provided figures for these year’s losses to the courts.
His writ claims that Ladbrokes Coral bosses told staff not to ask him where he was, so that the company was not forced to decline wagers he placed when he was in Spain.
Mr Allan, whose agency provides staff for the oil and gas industries, claims he was on ‘friendly’ terms with staff at the betting shop, and told them about his travels. Sometimes he played golf in Spain with the betting chain’s senior management, and continued to make telephone bets, which the managers knew about, it is alleged.
The writ, lodged at the High Court in London, states: ‘The claimant spoke to staff members at the shop, including the manager, on most days of the week and would inform them of his travels.
‘Staff members would pass information relating to the claimant to more senior management and such information would often include information as to the claimant’s whereabouts.
‘Further, on occasions when the shop staff telephoned the claimant whilst he was in Spain, they noticed the altered ring tone on his mobile telephone.’
Mr Allan argues that under Spanish law, since 2011 betting firms have needed a licence to operate in Spain, even if the bets are placed by phone from
Spain to a different country. Ladbrokes Coral and its remote service Ladbrokes Premier did not have the licence needed, says the writ.
Mr Allan contends that the company has been unjustly enriched by receiving his betting stakes, and seeks repayment of £3,368,531.61 and other sums yet to be provided, as well as interest of 8 per cent a year.
A spokesman for Ladbrokes Coral said: ‘We are aware that court proceedings have been issued against Ladbrokes on unfounded grounds that certain historic bets were accepted illegally pursuant to Spanish law.
‘We believe the claim to be entirely without merit and intend to defend it vigorously.’