Former GVC CEO Kenny Alexander, ex-chair among 11 charged in Turkey bribery case

Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has charged 11 people, including former executives of gambling group Entain, with offences ranging from bribery to fraud over the company’s historic operations in Turkey between 2011 and 2018.

Those charged include Kenny Alexander, chief executive of Entain’s predecessor GVC Holdings until 2020, former chairman Lee Feldman, former finance director Richard Cooper, and former trading director James Humberstone. All four face counts of conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to bribe.

Robert Hoskin, Entain’s former legal director and later chief governance officer, was separately charged in February 2024 with perverting the course of justice.

Other defendants include Scott Masterston, director of e-Technologies Global, who faces additional charges of fraudulent trading, cheating the public revenue, and acting as a company director while an undischarged bankrupt, as well as executives linked to payments firm Ilixium and other companies.

“This has been a complex and international investigation,” said Richard Las, director of HMRC’s fraud investigation service, as reported by The Guardian. “These are serious charges that relate to conspiracy to defraud, bribery, cheating the public revenue, evasion of income tax, and perverting the course of justice, among others.”

Entain itself has not been charged. In December 2023, the company reached a deferred prosecution agreement with the CPS, agreeing to pay a £585 million ($790 million) penalty, make a £20 million charitable donation, and contribute £10 million towards investigation costs. The deal resolved HMRC’s corporate probe into its historic Turkish business, provided it remains compliant.

“The company has not been charged, and none of the individuals charged are currently employed by the company or its group,” an Entain spokesperson said.

The case will be heard at Westminster magistrates' court on October 6. Conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to bribe carry maximum sentences of 10 years in prison and unlimited fines.

Alexander and Feldman have separately launched legal action against Entain and its former legal advisers, alleging the sharing of privileged information with investigators, according to the Financial Times. Alexander said earlier this year he would not return to the gambling industry after more than two decades in the sector.