The allegations are made against the Brighton owner by a former employee of his Starlizard betting syndicate
Tony Bloom
Hearts investor Tony Bloom has been accused of running a secret £600 million betting syndicate gamble on football fixtures – with some of the accounts used belonging to a former chief of staff of Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
Billionaire Brighton owner Bloom, who also has a controlling stake in Belgian champions Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, pumped £10million into the Tynecastle coffers this summer as he bought a 29 per cent stake in the club.
Hearts have exclusive Scottish use of the 55-year-old businessman and professional gambler’s Jamestown Analytics, the renowned player recruitment and opposition data tool.
Bloom controls the “Tony Bloom Betting Syndicate” which is said in court papers to have agreed with controversial politician Farage’s former aide George Cottrell – previously been jailed for money laundering in the United States and known in political circles as “Posh George” – to use his offshore gaming accounts “to place bets on sporting fixtures, predominantly football matches”.
The allegations against Bloom are made by an ex employee of the Brighton supremo’s betting advisory company Starlizard which has over 100 members personally invited by the Hearts investor and who place some of its bets.
The Times say they have seen the claim made by Ryan Dudfield who alleges he is owed £17.5million worth of profits made through Cottrell’s accounts after introducing the political aide to the Starlizard syndicate.
Tony Bloom
He said they used “secret exotic accounts . . . in the name of third parties, through which Mr Bloom and his betting syndicate placed their bets” with code names such as “whale” used in what was a front for placing bets on the syndicate’s behalf.
The Times say that while Bloom “has never met Cottrell personally, he is said to have been introduced to the syndicate by Dudfield via a senior employee at Starlizard in 2017.”
Cottrell was jailed for eight months the previous year in America after admitting offering to use the “dark web” to launder money for drug dealers. He was caught in an operation by undercover agents.
Although it has never been publicly disclosed, Bloom was reportedly given special dispensation by the Football Association in 2014 to operate his betting consultancy – although he is reportedly prohibited from betting on his own Brighton side or games involving Premier League sides.
The details of the claim against Bloom are set out in a 19-page document filed at the High Court last month with lawyers acting for Dudfield claiming he is owed £188million.
The Times says “lawyers acting for Bloom will reject any suggestion that his syndicate has placed bets on Premier League matches or games involving top-flight teams in the 11 years since the FA introduced its exemption.”
