A former betting business skilled who stole nearly £20,000 (US$22,700) from his former good friend, the British poker participant Luke Brereton, has been spared a jail sentence.
Siddique, left, acquired his good friend Luke Brereton’s financial institution particulars and drained his UK account earlier than dropping the cash on sports activities betting. (Picture: Cavendish Press/On line casino.org)
Amer Siddique, 38, was handed 12 months of group service, requiring him to hold out 150 hours of unpaid work. That’s after he pleaded responsible to fraud by false illustration at Chester Crown Courtroom this week.
The theft occurred in October 2018 when US-based Brereton returned to the UK to rejoice his birthday, in accordance with courtroom paperwork. Throughout lunch, Siddique booked a prepare ticket for Brereton utilizing Brereton’s debit card, which allowed him to acquire his good friend’s financial institution particulars.
Over the following three weeks, Siddique drained Brereton’s account of £19,399, which he plowed onto the William Hill sports activities betting platform, dropping all the cash.
Brereton is a profitable participant who has, thus far, US$1.5 million in internet event winnings, in accordance with the Hendon Mob Database. However having lived in America for the very best a part of a decade, his UK checking account contained solely £19,700, leaving him with simply £300.
‘Mate, I F***ed Up’
Solely after he returned to the US did Brereton notice one thing was flawed. He known as the financial institution to ask it to place a cease on the cardboard.
Then, on November 16, he obtained the next WhatsApp message from Siddique.
“Mate, I f***ed up. I’ll pay it again. Playing received out of hand. I f***ed up.”
Brereton gave Siddique quite a few alternatives to repay the cash. However his messages had been ignored, and he was blocked on social media, in accordance with prosecutors. Courtroom information present that the poker professional has not obtained a penny. He launched civil proceedings and contacted regulation enforcement within the UK.
I’m heartbroken as Amer was such an in depth good friend,” Brereton stated in a press release to British police. “I take into account myself a loyal and reliable particular person, however I really feel this was misplaced with him.
“Being knowledgeable poker participant could appear to an outsider to be straightforward cash, however it’s not. I’ve labored very arduous to develop and maintain a maintain of it, and it takes years of constructing and sacrifice. The cash in that checking account was my total UK internet value.”
Present process Therapy
In mitigation, Saddique’s lawyer, Julian Farley, stated his shopper had been present process therapy for a playing dysfunction and deliberate to repay the cash, having began a brand new job.
He clearly regrets what has occurred. It’s an disagreeable offense to try this to a good friend, and he is aware of that,” Farley stated. “He has let himself and his household down and he has misplaced a lifetime good friend he has loved spending time with.”
Siddique’s profession noticed him working at William Hill and Sky Betting & Gaming earlier than shifting to Bet365 as a sports activities dealer, in accordance with his now-defunct LinkedIn web page.
