I thought that it was making me happy, not destroying me
A fAther of two was targeted with up to £50,000 of VIP tickets and holidays which left him on the brink of suicide after he ‘nearly lost everything’.
the finance director was even arrested as he tried to fund his £900,000 gambling addiction.
to outsiders he and his wife appeared to live like millionaires, drinking champagne in five-star hotels.
he would entertain friends on VIP tickets at the most soughtafter race days including Ascot and the Cheltenham festival.
But he was actually gambling as much as £50,000 per day online on slot machines, roulette and horses, he has claimed.
he says that, between 2014 and 2017, his behaviour and the amount he was betting was never questioned by any of the three firms he gambled with – Coral, Betfair and BetVictor.
By the time he was arrested in february, he had sold his house, lost his job and was supporting his family on benefits. he said this week: ‘In one day I deposited over £ 50,000 in several transactions, but my behaviour didn’t trigger any alarms.
‘When you deposit double your annual salary in one day, [you would think] that would ring alarm bells especially as they met me on these free trips. By feeding my addiction I thought I was making myself happy but it was destroying me.’
Social media shows how he and his wife had become used to the high life. Coral gave him hospitality seats to watch everton football club, he claims.
he was also treated to VIP tickets to the NfL American football at Wembley Stadium, north London. the player even attended the Cheltenham festival, the epsom Derby and the total eclipse day at Sandown Park racecourse, Surrey. In all he says he received treats worth tens of thousands as well as, he claims, ‘gifts’ of £500 in his betting account. he was a member of Coral’s VIP scheme and had an account manager who signed him for competitions, he claimed, telling him: ‘I have already opted into this weekly [competition] for you – all you need to do is play.’ his gaming manager told him ‘roulette was his game’ and
that t he needed ‘ to teach him’. h The gambler complained p to Ladbrokes Coral, who replied: ‘ Our investigations confirm t that the activity on your account was not such that any interaction or action from a social responsibility perspective w was required.’
In an online blog, he wrote: ‘I was arrested back in February but I have been released under investigation. I’ve kept quiet for three long years and nearly lost everything, including my life. Over t time, stakes grew and I became a VIP attending hospitality trips, such as an all- expenses-paid trip to Dubai.’
His case has been reported to the Gambling Commission. Ladbrokes Coral, BetVictor and BetFair said they did not discuss individual accounts.
A spokesman from Norfolk Police said: ‘I can confirm there is an investigation for fraud ongoing. A man in his 30s from the Norwich area was arrested in February 2018.’
Other cases include Gareth Taggart, a silver VIP member of Belfast, who felt ‘harassed’ when Ladbrokes sent him up to four notifications an hour as his spending dipped.
David Yung, a former VIP Bronze member, said: ‘They kept pestering me with notifications and texts with new ways I could lose my money.’