A long-awaited determination has been set for the legal defence of former GVC leaders Kenny Alexander and Lee Feldman, in what could be UK gambling’s most explosive trial.
London’s Southwark Crown Court has earmarked provisional dates for proceedings against former GVC executives and associates on allegations of fraud, bribery, and perverting the course of justice.
In August, Alexander, Feldman, and ten others were formally charged by the UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) with offences connected to GVC Holdings’ alleged attempt to defraud HMRC through its former operations in Turkey.
Three-part trial format established
At a plea and trial preparation hearing on Monday, His Honour Judge Baumgartner confirmed that the case will be split into three separate trials.
The first trial, involving Alexander, Feldman, and five co-defendants, will begin on 14 February 2028 and is expected to last for four months.
A second trial, covering charges against Alexander MacAngus, Richard Raubitscheck-Smith, and Raymond Smart, will commence in October 2028.
The final hearing, centred on Robert Hoskin, Entain’s former Chief Governance Officer (2020–2023), is scheduled for 5 March 2029.
The charges brought include conspiracy to defraud, fraudulent evasion of income tax, bribery, and perverting the course of justice. No pleas were entered at this stage, as the judge opted to delay arraignment until the evidence has been more closely examined.
Trial to stay in London
The venue was also debated, with the prosecution proposing to relocate the case to Leeds Crown Court, as some of the alleged offences occurred in the north of England. However, the judge ruled that the matter would remain in Southwark, citing the potential cost and disruption to the public purse of moving proceedings to another city.
Potential reporting restrictions were discussed in light of Entain’s commercial interests in certain case materials, though no final ruling has been handed down.
The defence raised concerns on procedural issues denied by Judge Baumgartner, who encouraged legal parties to engage in open dialogue on how to handle disclosures processes by the trial dates in 2018.
Turkish legacy still haunts Entain
The case stems from GVC Holdings’ ownership of Headlong Limited, a Turkey-facing subsidiary active between 2011 and 2017.
GVC sold the business to Ropso Malta Limited in November 2017 under a deal that included a performance-based earn-out of up to €150m. The sale was undertaken to facilitate GVC Holdings’ leveraged buyout of the £4bn acquisition of Ladbrokes Coral in 2018.
In 2019, HMRC launched an investigation into whether GVC continued to benefit from Headlong’s activities following the sale. The probe was expanded in 2020 to include possible corporate offences which Alexander and Feldman have long denied.
Following the rebrand to Entain Plc, former Chairman Barry Gibson acknowledged that historic misconduct had occurred involving former employees and third-party suppliers.
At the close of 2023, the board of Entain reached a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with the CPS and HMRC, agreeing to pay a £585m penalty, along with a £20m charitable donation and £10m in legal costs, for breaches of Section 7 of the UK Bribery Act.
The costly HMRC settlement saw Entain record consecutive statutory annual losses of £900m in FY2023 and £450m in FY2024, as its new leadership and board maintained that the company has changed course to prioritise long-term, sustainable growth in regulated markets.
Long road to trial
The formal charges filed against Alexander and his associates in August 2025 represent the latest stage of a six-year investigation into GVC’s historic Turkish operations.
The court has allocated a four-month trial window beginning February 2028, though lawyers believe that — given the scale and number of defendants involved — proceedings could continue well into 2030 before all matters are resolved.
