Crown Court to Hear GVC Gambling Bribery Case in London in November

An alleged bribery case involving 11 executives including former employees of GVC Holdings will be heard at Southwark Crown Court in London on November 3.

The executives are facing a number of charges relating to the provision of gambling services in Turkey between 2011 and 2018 by GVC Holdings (which later became current operator Entain Group); among them is former GVC Holdings CEO Kenny Alexander. The case has been referred to the Crown Court next month after a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

Not all defendants are facing the exact same charges, but the charges include bribery, conspiracy to defraud, fraudulent trading, cheating the public revenue, evasion of income tax, acting as a director of a company when undischarged bankrupt and perverting the course of justice.

Background

GVC disposed of its Turkish business in 2017. In 2023, the Crown Prosecution Service entered into a £615 million deferred prosecution agreement with Entain to settle HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) investigation into the company regarding GVC Holdings’ alleged bribery offences, which primarily occurred in Turkey. Entain agreed to exit unregulated gaming markets under the terms of that agreement.

GVC Holdings changed its name to Entain in December 2020; Alexander left GVC Holdings in July 2020, after taking over in 2007.

Who is charged and what are the charges?

Ten people have been charged with offences committed between 2011 and 2018, and one person for an offence relating to the HMRC investigation. Those charged with conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to bribe include:

•       Kenny Alexander, former GVC Holdings CEO
•       Richard Cooper, former GVC Holdings CFO
•       Robert Dowling, Conexus Group CEO
•       Lee Feldman, former GVC Holdings Non-Executive Chairman
•       James Humberstone, former GVC Holdings COO
•       Raymond Smart, Finance Director at Inteliqo Ltd.
•       Richard Raubitschek-Smith, a payments industry executive

Alexander MacAngus, a payments industry executive, is charged with conspiracy to defraud only.

Scott Masterton, of Tetney in Grimsby, faces a wider set of charges, including conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to bribe, fraudulent trading, cheating the public revenue, and acting as a director of a company when undischarged bankrupt.

Caroline Roe, a Director of several companies, is charged with conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to bribe, fraudulent trading, and fraudulent evasion of income tax.

Robert Hoskin, former Group Director of Legal, Regulatory & Secretariat at GVC Holdings, is charged with perverting the course of justice.

When the charges were announced in August, Richard Las, Director of HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said: “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.”

What happens next?

At Monday’s initial hearing, no defendants offered a plea, with pleas expected to be made at the Crown Court in November. In the UK, almost all criminal cases begin at the Magistrates’ Court, with the purpose of the first hearing sometimes being to decide whether a case should stay in the Magistrates’ Court or be sent to Crown Court.

If a defendant can potentially be convicted of a crime that leads to a sentence of more than 12 months in prison, the case is sent to Crown Court.