Dallaglio card used to spend £10,000 in drug brothel
Jailed gang sold cocaine and £300-an-hour prostitutes at north London townhouse
A CREDIT card belonging to Lawrence Dallaglio, the former England rugby captain, was used to make payments of £10,000 in a brothel, a court has heard.
The 47-year-old married father of two was interviewed under caution by police in the presence of a solicitor as part of an investigation into a gang said to be running a high-class prostitution racket and selling cocaine.
The sports star was not arrested and was not required to give evidence at a six-week trial at Wood Green Crown Court in north London. No further action was taken against him, and it was never established what his money was spent on.
It is understood Mr Dallaglio’s name was found among 180,000 credit and debit card receipts discovered when police raided the brothel, which was being run from a Georgian townhouse in Holborn, central London.
According to a report in The Sun, a bag discovered in the basement of the building during the raid last July contained receipts showing four payments which came to a total of £10,550 had been made on Mr Dallaglio’s credit card in March 22 last year. It was not known if he had gone to the brothel, either alone or with anyone else.
The receipts show £3,000 was sent to an account belonging to Kristian Kodra, an Albanian employee at the brothel, and a total of £7,550 to another account owned by Alexandra Galis, the 23-year-old Romanian madam of the brothel. Both were jailed last month for their part in running the business.
Their trial heard the gang made at least £400,000 in the six months before the brothel was shut down.
Customers were said to be paying £300 for an hour with prostitutes working there.
Detectives believe the brothel was selling cocaine because they found boric acid, used to “cut” the drug, for sale. Other receipts suggested some of those using the venue were paying £80-100 for a gram of cocaine.
Hugh Forgan, prosecuting, told the court: “It wasn’t just sex that was for sale there. We say cocaine was also available as well.”
Galis was jailed for four-and-a-half years for conspiring to run the brothel and possession of criminal property. Her boyfriend, Egert Isaku, a 32-yearold Kosovan Albanian, was jailed for nine years for dealing drugs.
Kodra, 22, was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for running the brothel, but was cleared of drug dealing. Allen Wing Hong Chan, 44, born in Hong Kong, was jailed for nine years for drug dealing and possession of criminal property. Ricardo Barbosaborges, 43, was jailed for 32 months for money-laundering.
Mr Dallaglio, now a commentator for BT Sport, last night failed to respond to a request for comment.
A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: “In November 2019, a 47-year-old was interviewed under caution as one line of inquiry in the investigation. He was not arrested, and no further action is being taken.”
Mr Dallaglio stepped down as England captain in 1999 after allegations emerged that he had used drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, while celebrating British Lions’ victory in South Africa two years earlier. He denied this, calling it “a set-up”.