Ben Jones, of Colwick, Nottingham, was jailed for three years at Nottingham Crown Court
A major bookmaker allowed a customer with a severe gambling addiction to bet £370,000 he had stolen from his employer.
The gambling watchdog is investigating Betway after it failed to check whether Ben Jones, 30, could afford the huge sums he was wagering.
The married father-of-two took the cash from The Cake Decorating Co, where he worked as a wholesale manager.
A court heard Jones had an addiction so severe that it is categorised as a ‘psychiatric disorder’.
Over three and a half years he took up to £30,000 a month from the company, nearly driving it to bankruptcy.
His former bosses are considering suing Betway, which turned over £283million last year, to recoup the money.
The Gambling Commission has begun an inquiry, and could impose a multi-million-pound fine on Betway, which is owned by a shell company based in the tax haven of the British Virgin Islands.
On Thursday, Jones, of Colwick, Nottingham, was jailed for three years at Nottingham Crown Court.
Daniel White, owner of The Cake Decorating Co, said: ‘We were badly let down. Gambling companies have a regulatory duty to prevent stolen money from being gambled.
The married father-of-two took the cash from The Cake Decorating Co, where he worked as a wholesale manager. The business is pictured above
‘Adequate money-laundering checks were not carried out, which left us vulnerable to this crime.’
The court heard that Jones took the cash between May 2015 and November 2018, forcing the company to take out high-interest loans to stay afloat.
Under the ‘sophisticated’ scam, Jones would take orders from customers and give them his own bank account details for payment instead of the firm’s.
He would ensure the products were dispatched and would then alter computer records to cover his tracks.
But his offending was uncovered after he forgot to change one order, and a customer who had not received their goods complained.
The firm began an investigation, and called police after Jones admitted he had been pocketing the money for more than three years.
The company, the UK’s largest cake decorator, would have gone bust if it had not spotted the fraud in November last year.
Prosecutor Katrina Wilson told the court: ‘Because Betway were not checking the authenticity of the money being used by this defendant, the company are seeking advice as to whether they can be reimbursed. The defendant is assisting in this. He admitted it was linked to his gambling addiction, which had spiralled out of control. He was not subject to supervision because he was a manager and no one oversaw his activities.’
Omran Belhadi, defending, said Jones’s gambling was ‘so severe it is categorised as a psychiatric disorder’.
Nottingham Crown Court (above) heard that Jones took the cash between May 2015 and November 2018, forcing the company to take out high-interest loans to stay afloat
He told the hearing that Jones did not steal the money to profit from it, but simply couldn’t help himself, adding: ‘This was not motivated by a desire for personal gain, but the compulsion and addiction he suffered from. He is committed to rehabilitating himself.’
Mr Belhadi added that Jones, who was supported by his wife and family in court, was helping other addicts to stop gambling, and had held sessions with staff from another betting firm, Skybet, to help it ‘improve its systems’.
The Mail’s Stop The Gambling Predators campaign backs tighter regulations on the gambling industry, which makes £14.5billion in profit a year.
Under their licence conditions, gambling companies are required to check where the money customers bet comes from to prevent crime and money laundering.
In July, Ladbrokes Coral was fined £5.9million for failing to stop customers betting with stolen money.
A spokesman for Betway said: ‘Betway is aware of this matter and we are investigating it further.
‘As a responsible, licensed operator Betway does not seek, nor does it wish to profit, from any illicit funds wagered on its sites.
‘Where we establish that stolen funds have been used, we take steps to ensure that the victims are reimbursed.’
The case is just the latest linked to gambling addiction. Three bookies failed to stop finance director Steven Girling betting £1million of money stolen from his firm.
They kept him betting by bombarding him with bonuses and free tickets to top sporting events. The married father-of-two, from Norfolk, was jailed in January for four years.