One of the biggest punters in Queensland has been charged by the police in one of the most significant cases of gambling-related fraud in Australia.
According to allegations, Paul John Montgomery misappropriated over AU$10 million from bank accounts of RDS, a civil engineering firm, in the ten-year period from 2007 to 2017. The 55-year-old man was accused of using a number of bank accounts to transfer money from the family business he worked for into his own personal accounts.
On August 13th, he faced one charge of fraud in the Brisbane Magistrates Court. As explained at a news conference by Detective Senior Constable John Shilton, Mr Montgomery would be charged that he used the stolen funds to fund his gambling activity, and to pay for personal and lifestyle expenses, including property purchases. Detective Shilton further noted that the defendant was allegedly gambling with “multiple” betting companies.
Mr Montgomery was initially employed by RDS in 2004. At the time, he was a friend to the Gurney family, who have run the company since 1969.
After the hearing in the Brisbane Magistrates Court, the defendant was released on bail. He is expected to appear back in court on September 7th.
According to reports, the defendant was a customer with a VIP status with several betting operators that had also been offering him various inducements and forms of corporate gratitude to make sure he continued gambling. Some of the special bonuses received by Mr Montgomery by gambling companies included high-end tickets to State of Origin games and races.
Gambling Operators Involved in Mr Montgomery’s Gambling Could Also Be Investigated
High-roller customers, who are also called VIP clients, are the ones who usually contribute most to the profits of the betting sector, and that trend is not observed in Australia only. For example, the UK gambling regulatory body revealed that VIP gamblers generated over 80% of the deposits of one of the largest gambling companies, and at the same time such gamblers account for only 2% of the operator’s overall customer base.
When it comes to the Australian high-roller gambler’s case, Adam Bennett, a Detective Active Inspector, explained that there is a possibility that the gambling operators involved in the transactions and their role in the case could also become subject of investigation. He shared that the investigators are checking where the stolen money ended up and where they were supposed to get to.
At the time when he learned that Mr Montgomery, a former general manager at RDS, had been arrested and faced fraud allegations, one of the family members who own and operate the company, Wayne Gurney, said he was relieved. He shared that three years ago, in 2017, RDS hired a forensic accountant and his checks on the company found unexplainable and surprising discrepancies.
Mr Gurney shared with a local media that he and his four brothers had experienced a few difficult years but their business was getting back to normal.
- Author
Daniel Williams
