Cartwright King Helps Business Get Positive Result

Cartwright King Helps Business Get Positive Result Following Addiction Theft

A recent case covered by Cartwright King’s London and Nottingham offices has again highlighted the dangers around gambling addiction, both on and offline.

In this case Cartwright King represented an employer who was looking to recoup some of the £300k stolen by an employee for gambling. This theft had resulted in cash flow problems for the business which contacted Cartwright King to see what could be done regarding not only the employee, but also PayPal as false accounts had been opened to move the money around in an attempt to hide the activity.

A forensic accounting exercise was undertaken to discover exactly how much money had been stolen, which also identified not only how the employee has stolen the money but also hidden its existence.

Armed with this evidence, the employer and Cartwright King contacted the police and handed over the evidence, enabling the police to charge the defendant, and prepare for prosecution.

Cartwright King collated the forensic evidence and built a case against the gambling company, proving due diligence had not been completed in regards to the employee, and that the employer’s losses were foreseeable in the circumstances.

The Gambling Commission, the governing body of all UK-based gambling companies, press gambling companies to ensure that due diligence is carried out on customers before problems arise. The commission will investigate any gambling businesses that it feels has under delivered in this service and left both customers and companies exposed. It also has the power to levy substantial fines, so it is in the best interest for gambling companies to cooperate.

In this case the employee was found guilty of the charges, and given a custodial sentence. The employer had found itself in a position where it was going to find moving forward extremely difficult due to the theft, and so the gambling company decided to divest itself of all funds the defendant had paid into its accounts, allowing the employer to have the monies returned, and the business to continue.

Cartwright King’s client was delighted to have the money returned to them, and has continued to trade.

This case has again shown how addictive gambling is and how it can destroy lives, and also nearly cause this business to cease trading, leading to the destruction of more livelihoods.