Imprisoned bettor files lawsuit against Entain group

Australian former financial planner Gavin Fineff, currently incarcerated, is suing three leading betting companies – Sportsbet, Tabcorp and Entain – seeking to recover millions of dollars he embezzled from clients and subsequently lost through gambling with these firms.

Notably Entain, a leading UK-based sports betting and gaming group, also maintains a significant operational presence in Malta. It’s known for brands such as bwin, Ladbroke and betboo.

Mr Fineff alleges these bookmakers encouraged him to keep placing huge bets without properly checking where his money was coming from or whether he was engaging in illegal behavior to fund his gambling.

In 2023, Mr Fineff was sentenced to nine years behind bars after defrauding 12 victims of over €2.5 million ($3 million) to feed his gambling addiction. He won’t be eligible for parole until February 2028.

If he wins this case, the money recovered would go to the victims he defrauded, not to Mr Fineff himself, with his legal advisor Geoffrey Watson SC saying “he won’t get a penny from it, but those who he has hurt, a fact he acknowledges freely, they’ll get their money back, or at least part of it.”

“This is a landmark case. If this is successful, it will change the gambling industry in Australia a great deal,” Mr Wattson told ABC Investigations.

Mr Fineff also filed lawsuits against two former VIP account managers, George Khoury and Steven Bedwell, accusing them of encouraging him to reopen betting accounts after he had ceased gambling, enabling his high-risk betting while overlooking clear warning signs.

Featured Image: ABC News