Dick Knight betting scam on front page of Argus...........

[b.w.2.]

This just sounds worse and worse to me... I am now genuinely worried that this WILL have an impact on DK and, by extension, our club, and the Falmer application...

At best, a PR disaster... at worst, well, I'd rather not think about it... all I will say is that we could be talking jail sentances for the main players here... now, how would that look?...

Seems to me that LI is being far too dismissive of a serious problem... that sais, I hope and pray he is right... I guess he may be?...

 

[b.w.2.]

I don't think there is much ammunition here for the NIMBYs. They are focussing on the Public Inquiry - which will deal with planning issues. This isn't a planning consideration.

My concern is that the Albion need to maintain political support for a new stadium. And that they need to put a finance package together to fund it.

DK needs to persuade the people that matter in these areas that they should continue backing the Club. He may now need to work a bit harder to achieve that.

If you are saying that, LB... this is getting even more worrying...

 

[Lord Bracknell]

If you are saying that, LB... this is getting even more worrying...

But - and here I probably part company with Ernest - I am confident that Dick Knight, Martin Perry and Albion fans have the skills and strength to pull us through this crisis.

 

[Ernest]

Technically there is no link between BHA and Sporting Options but any businesses that have or did have until very recently the same chairman and a director cannot fail to be linked.
Now with whatever has happened to Sporting Options is maybe affecting the Albion in that any potential investor will not commit any funds whilst this connection is still there and even more so will any city institution commit the large funds to build the new stadium with this sort of thing hanging over the whole club ?
Hence my question at the start, was the 'Alive and Kicking' fund launched because of this lack of investment ? And is the lack of investment down to people worried about certain things involved with the club ?

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

the problem is it takes years to gain a good reputation but only hours to lose it. i can see this could be very damaging and the nimbys/dn haters will have a field day.

 

[b.w.2.]

A&K can have nothing to do with this, surely?... the Sporting Options news really only broke very recently... would potential investors prior to the launch of A&K have been aware of the Sporting Options debacle at that time?... I think not...

I think you're stretching a point there Ernest...

I'm more worried about the fallout from this day forwards...

 

[Billy Seagull]

It was no surprise that Sporting Options went tits up as I was advised in August not to have any money in a Sporting Options account as it was in trouble. I also heard another rumour about 2 weeks ago that all was not well.

Their terms of service said
""All stake monies lodged with the Company are held in a separate segregated stakeholder account with HSBC, in accordance with our Terms and Conditions. This stakeholder account is in the name of Sporting Options plc Clients account."

It appears this was forgotten about in about March

I hope DK was long out of it by then but I'm sure it won't make a difference to the Albion.

 

[The Large One]

Ernest, are you implying that Alive & Kicking was launched to plug a gap in Sporting Options' accounting?

There is a lack of investment in the Albion because no right-minded City firm would invest six or seven figure sums in any company with no guaranteed chance of its longevity - i.e. Albion's current plight regarding Falmer.

You are putting two and two together and coming up with seven.

 

[The Auditor]

Technically there is no link between BHA and Sporting Options but any businesses that have or did have until very recently the same chairman and a director cannot fail to be linked.
Now with whatever has happened to Sporting Options is maybe affecting the Albion in that any potential investor will not commit any funds whilst this connection is still there and even more so will any city institution commit the large funds to build the new stadium with this sort of thing hanging over the whole club ?
Hence my question at the start, was the 'Alive and Kicking' fund launched because of this lack of investment ? And is the lack of investment down to people worried about certain things involved with the club ?

Is this what Saint Lennard was on to a couple of weeks ago when he was abused and bounced off of here for lack of "Trust"
I hope there are some red faces and helpings of humble pie being consumed

 

[Ernest]

Ernest, are you implying that Alive & Kicking was launched to plug a gap in Sporting Options' accounting?

There is a lack of investment in the Albion because no right-minded City firm would invest six or seven figure sums in any company with no guaranteed chance of its longevity - i.e. Albion's current plight regarding Falmer.

You are putting two and two together and coming up with seven.

No , I was saying was Alive and Kicking launched because no bank or other lender, or investor would touch us with a barge pole ?

 

[Ernest]

According to tonights Argus , Kevin Griffiths is still a major shareholder in the Albion so is still very much connected with the club.

 

[London Irish]

There is not a shred of evidence connecting Dick Knight with the alleged fraudulent activity at Sporting Options, and not one person has alleged there is.

Bottom line.

I must say it comes to something when Ernest turns into the voice of reason in a NSC debate by urging avoidance of ugly speculation on Dick's role

 

[aftershavedave]

if we need to be blunt about it, he's connected by virtue of being the non-exec chairman, whether he likes it or not.

bottom line is that the chairman of a company which has acted fraudulently (if this proves to be the case) will have questions to answer, like it or not.

 

[Storer68]

This is what the Argus says tonigt: I have to say they really seem to be trying hard to tar DK with this particular brush.......



Riddle of £3m bets crash
by Sam Thomson


Kevin Griffiths left his home yesterday without speaking to the press

A betting company set up by an Albion director with the help of club chairman Dick Knight has folded, owing punters millions of pounds.

Administrators brought in following the collapse of Sporting Options, founded by Brighton entrepreneur Kevin Griffiths, are trying to solve the mystery of a £3.5 million shortfall in the company's accounts - money which belonged to its customers.

The administrators said they had not ruled out the possibility of asking Sussex Police to investigate.

Dick Knight has resigned as non-executive chairman of Sporting Options.

Kevin Griffiths has resigned as a director of Brighton and Hove Albion but is believed to be maintaining his position as a major Albion shareholder.

Sources close to Mr Knight said he had been embarrassed by his connection with Sporting Options.

One said: "This is the guy who cleared out the old guard and gave the club a fresh, clean start. It's a shame he got caught up with this but he has done nothing wrong."

In a statement to The Argus, Mr Knight said: "I was invited by Albion director Kevin Griffiths to be the non-executive chairman of a new venture called Sporting Options when it was established in 2002.

"My role was advisory, to act as a figurehead and to advise on the launch of the new company.

"I took no part in the running of the company and never expected or received any payment for my role. I had no involvement in the company and have since resigned as non-executive chairman.

"Kevin Griffiths has resigned as a director of the football club. The club itself has never had any connection with Sporting Options."

The rapid rise of Sporting Options, based in Burgess Hill, stunned rivals when it was set up by Mr Griffiths, a City equity trader, in 2002. It grew into Britain's third biggest betting exchange, an internet-based system in which punters bet with each other online and offer their own odds while the company takes a small percentage of each transaction.

Mr Griffiths claimed Sporting Options went into profit within 80 days and attracted clients from 30 countries in its first eight months of operation, matching £120 million worth of bets.

But trouble was brewing as early as August 2003, when company accounts were published showing a loss of almost £1 million, a nine-fold increase on the previous year.

Sporting Options was reportedly due to be sold to bookmakers Blue Square three months ago in a deal worth £4 million but this fell through.

On Monday night, administrators from Menzies Corporate Restructuring were appointed and Sporting Options' web site was shut down.

A notice posted on it read: "The administrators are currently assessing the financial position of the company and reviewing its business operations."

A spokesman for Menzies Corporate Restructuring told The Argus there should have been £3.6 million of customers' money in a ring-fenced bank account but they could find less than £100,000.

The company had about 5,500 active clients before it folded, with some 300 of those having paid more than £1,000 into their accounts, he said.

A police investigation to find the missing money was "certainly a possibility," he said, adding: "Having been appointed only on Monday, it is impossible for me to speculate any further."

The Betting Exchange Trade Association (BETA) has revoked the company's membership after it was found to be in "material breach" of the new code of practice for betting exchanges.

Albion sought to distance itself from Sporting Options.

Chief executive Martin Perry said Mr Griffiths had resigned as a director a month ago.

Mr Perry said: "Sporting Options and the Albion are completely separate."

Kevin Griffiths left his luxury home at Keymer, near Hassocks, yesterday without saying anything to the Press.

Punters who signed up to Sporting Options have been offered a rescue package from rival betting exchange Betfair.

 

[The Large One]

According to tonights Argus , Kevin Griffiths is still a major shareholder in the Albion so is still very much connected with the club.

Two and two again, Ernest. The fact of Griffiths' shareholder status doesn't mean anything in itself.

It's the same situation as Norman Cook, major shareholder and not a director. Are you going to berate him and the club in the same way for Cook's admission for taking illegal drugs?

As for the bit about no-one touching us with a barge-pole, that what I said. It's hardly rocket science is it?

 

[London Irish]

I read that Argus article and it sets out the facts as we know them, ie. there is nothing in there "tarring" Dick Knight with any wrong-doing whatsoever.

Bottom line!

 

[The Auditor]

Two and two again, Ernest. The fact of Griffiths' shareholder status doesn't mean anything.

Surely gives him voting rights and influence on what goes on at the club

 

[London Irish]

Surely gives him voting rights and influence on what goes on at the club

Dick's given him the boot off the board, or maybe he had a shred of decency to clear off of his volition. Either way, what's the problem? A minority shareholder can have no influence over the direction of a company if the majority shareholders decide that's what's going to happen.

 

[The Auditor]

Dick's given him the boot off the board, or maybe he had a shred of decency to clear off of his volition. Either way, what's the problem? A minority shareholder can have no influence over the direction of a company if the majority shareholders decide that's what's going to happen.

The article posted calls him a MAJOR shareholder so may have some influence

 

[The Large One]

The article posted calls him a MAJOR shareholder so may have some influence

Different from a MAJORITY shareholder, which the club doesn't have - and hopefully never will have again. The last incumbent to occupy that role was William Ernest Archer.

I suspect 'major' can be a very flexible adjective.