This week ABC 4 Corners investigated the murky world of Strata Managers and the shady dealings of ASX stalwart Steadfast (ASX: SDF) and until recently ASX market favourite Johns Lyng Group (ASX: JLG). Essentially both firms appear to be using their ownership of Strata Manager businesses to sell inflated maintenance works and insurance policies.
Four Corners: Series 2024 The Strata Trap : ABC iview
What did not get as much publicity was a story on the same channel exposing the misery of corporate sponsored gambling, specifically focusing in on the ASX listed online gambling business BlueBet (ASX:BBT ) and Sportsbet (owned by the LSE listed Flutter Entertainment).
VIP managers, shocking fraud, stolen millions: Inside the harrowing crimes of 'The Golden Goose' - ABC News
The above tells the story of three salt-of-the-earth brothers who own and run an earthmoving company in Queensland. The three Gurney brothers all loved being on the tools and left the running of the financial side business to a family “friend” by the name of Mr Paul Montgomery. Mr Montgomery repaid the favour by ripping the business off to the tune of around $11.5m over a period of 10 years .Mr Montgomery had a gambling problem and was for a time in the top 5% of Australian gamblers. Montgomery was caught and is now living in the big house stamping out number plates.
The other part of the story of Montgomery’s fraud and gambling problem is how both Sportsbet and the ASX listed Bluebet encouraged it and also broke the law. The likes of Sportsbet and Bluebet employ usually ex sports stars as “VIP Managers”.
It is the task of these “VIP Managers” to identify, befriend and encourage punters to gamble using their company’s betting platforms. In the above case ex Wallaby and NRL player Duncan McRae working for Bluebet attached himself to the wretched Mr Montgomery. The ABC obtained a contract between one of these ‘VIP Managers” and Sportsbet. The terms of the agreement indicated as the “VIP Manager” they would receive 20% of the net losses of the identified gambler for the first 12 months and 5% in subsequent months.
Betting agencies are required under the legislation to obtain “proof of income” from the identified gambler to ensure the gambler is using their own financial resources, and not proceeds of crime. In the case of Mr Montgomery it appears this check was not done by either Sportsbet or Bluebet. None of the ill-gotten gains accrued by the betting agencies has been returned to the Gurney brothers.
Just think for a minute about the morals you would need to possess to be one of these “VIP Managers”. You take the typically problem gambler to the sporting event, buy them beer, joke with them, act as if you are their best mate and then gee them up to gamble. Not only just gamble, but you are incentivized for them to gamble and lose. All the while laughing, backslapping them and generally stroking their ego. It would take a particularly egregious subset of societies’ shitbags to undertake such a role.
Or you could say in the above case it represented a coming together of two highly defective human beings, Paul Montgomery and Duncan McRae. Some might say the injustice is only one of them went to jail.
Unfortunately, there seems to be any number of people willing to behave in this way. In the wider gambling sphere just look at what has emerged at Crown Casino and more recently Star Entertainment. From Nick Xenophon to Andrew Wilkie to Tim Costello all have had a go at cleaning it up, with only very limited success.
JLG and SDF each issued to the market their best rebuttal statement. Both were pathetic cliché riddled crap, the usual:: “…..we take very seriously our obligations ...blah blah …”. Documents useful only to line the bottom of budgie cages.
Bluebet did not issue any statement to the market concerning the ABC report. I guess that tells you what Bluebet think of the ABC, the gambling regulator and the Australin public.