Kenny Alexander, the former CEO of Entain, is one of eleven people that have been arrested and charged with a string of offences in Turkey. Those include fraud, bribery, income tax evasion and perverting the course of justice; each believed to be connected to gambling services that ran in the country between 2011 and 2018.
Also charged are Entain’s former chairman Lee Feldman, ex finance director Richard Cooper and former legal director Robert Hoskin, as well as seven other individuals.
A Fair Trial
Of the eleven people charged, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has confirmed that ten were cited with seven different offences relating to the ‘provision of gambling services’ in Turkey between 2011 and 2018. Specifically, it is believed that it’s the historic activity of GVC Holdings, who later became Entain in 2020, that is under the microscope.
As well as the alleged crimes listed above, members of the group have also been charged with cheating the public revenue, conspiracy to defraud, fraudulent trading and acting as a company director with undischarged bankruptcy.
The chief prosecutor for the CPS, Hannah von Dadelszen, commented:
Our prosecutors have worked closely with officers of HM Revenue and Customs who have carried out the investigation.
The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against these defendants are active and that they have a right to a fair trial.
The other individual has been charged with an offence in relation to a HMRC investigation. Richard Las, the fraud investigation service lead at HMRC, commented:
This has been a complex and international investigation. These are serious charges that relate to conspiracy to defraud, bribery, cheating the public revenue, evasion of income tax and perverting the course of justice among others.
The case will now move through the court system, with the first hearing to be held at Westminster magistrates court on October 6.
Timeline of Chaos
Alexander, the former frontman for GVC Holdings in his role as CEO, is the best-known of the defendants. As well as working in the industry, Alexander is also a noted racehorse owner, with the likes of Cheltenham Festival winners Honeysuckle, Doddiethegreat and Kargese just some of his charges.
Alexander Charged with Conspiracy to Defraud & Conspiracy to Bribe
He has been charged with conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to bribe, based on historical allegations relating to GVC’s activities in Turkey between 2011 and 2018. This matter has been a long-winded affair. Back in 2019, it was reported by some media agencies that GVC had continued to profit financially from a subsidiary business, Headlong Ltd, which it owned and operated in Turkey between 2011 and 2017.
According to GVC, their share was divested in November 2017 when they sold Headlong to Ropso Malta Ltd for a fee of up to £130 million. But the HMRC continued to investigate, receiving new information that saw them expand their enquiries into potential corporate offending within the company.
Alexander decided to leave GVC in 2020, while the firm latterly changed their name to Entain. Representatives from Entain confirmed that some of their former employees and third-party suppliers were helping HMRC with their enquiries.
Entain Pays £585 Million Fine with £20 Million Donation to Charity
After three more years of investigation, Entain agreed to a deferred prosecution agreement with the CPS, which would see them pay a fine of £585 million, alongside a £20 million donation to charity, with the sanction brought under Section 7 of the Bribery Act.
This was the first deferred prosecution agreement of its kind, with the CPS noting that Entain had made ‘sweeping changes to the company’s compliance procedures’. A matter of days after the agreement was revealed publicly, then Entain CEO Jette Nygaard-Andersen resigned with immediate effect, although it’s not thought that her exit was connected to the legal case.
The matter became even more confused in February of this year, when Alexander and fellow defendant Lee Feldman launched a legal action of their own against Entain and Addleshaw Goddard, who had represented GVC as legal counsel in the Turkey matter.
Sharing of ‘Privileged Information’
It’s thought their argument centred around the sharing of ‘privileged information’ during the legal process. Just a month earlier, Alexander had launched a separate legal case against the Gambling Commission, claiming that they had misused his private information when the former GVC chief had tried to launch a takeover of 888 holdings.
Commenting on the new case brought against their former employees, an Entain spokesperson said:
The company has not been charged and none of the individuals charged are currently employed by the company or its group.
The company entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the CPS in December 2023 which, subject to continued compliance with its terms, resolved the HM Revenue and Customs investigation insofar as it concerned the company and its group.