The civil case of former Entain CEO Kenny Alexander and Chair Lee Feldman against the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has been dismissed by the Royal Courts of Justice.
The Guardian has reported that Alexander and Feldman, who are facing bribery and fraud criminal charges in a separate case, claimed last year that the UKGC had misused their private information and breached their confidence in relation to the regulator’s intervention in their failed bid for the operator 888.
Justice Eady has dismissed these claims and ordered the claimants to pay the commission’s costs. However, the reasons for dismissal were not disclosed as a temporary order was imposed to prevent it from being reported.
Alexander and Feldman were unsuccessful in their bid for 888, as talks broke down when the UKGC informed that the operator would have its licence reviewed, owing to the pair’s previous positions with GVC Holdings, now Entain, which was the subject of an alleged bribery investigation from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
888 was questioned by the UKGC over whether it held knowledge of if Alexander and Feldman had been interviewed under caution or were suspects in the investigation. The operator responded at the time to investors that they weren’t able to obtain “the most basic assurances” to address these concerns.
As such, Alexander and Feldman’s case against the regulator partly rested on a claim that they caused a statement to be issued, which disclosed the existence of the licence review and the reasons for it, and that this was a breach of their privacy.
HMRC’s investigation was into alleged bribery in Entain’s Turkish operations between 2011 and 2018.
A deferred prosecution agreement in relation to the investigation was reached in November 2023, to which Entain paid £615m to the Crown Prosecution Service – a £585m financial penalty, disgorgement of profits, a £20m donation to charity and £10m in CPS and HMRC expenses.
Former Entain Chair Barry Gibson negotiated the settlement, mentioning that the bribery infringements were related to a former business sold under the tenure of Alexander and Feldman and that Entain had “fundamentally changed as a business”. HMRC deemed Entain had been helpful and reliable in assisting its investigation.
Provisional dates for three separate trials of individuals involved and charged with fraud and bribery were set by London’s Southwark Crown Court in November last year. Alexander and Feldman are involved in the first trial, which is scheduled to begin on 14 February 2028.
