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

[Deleted User X18H]

...........is this the tip of the Iceberg- big apologies to Ernest.

Knight has resigned as non - excecutive chairman Police could be involved as company has £3m deficeit of punters money.

 

[Deleted User X18H]

........and on front of racing post no DK mention there though.

 

[Northstander]

whatever this is, it doesnt sound good at all! Nimbys will be laughin at this!!!

 

[The Auditor]

Unfortunately likely to be blown out of all proportion by tha Anti Falmer brigade.. lets hope Dick is able to "clear his name" and tha Argus then front page his side of the story

 

[b.w.2.]

At least he got out before the sh1t really hit the fan... mud may stick tho'...

 

[Curious Orange]

non - excecutive chairman

As in - not involved in running the company.

 

[Bwian]

Unfortunately likely to be blown out of all proportion by tha Anti Falmer brigade.. lets hope Dick is able to "clear his name" and tha Argus then front page his side of the story

When has a newspaper EVER given equal billing for the other side of a story? It'll be buried in the Looney Letters page-if at all.

Let's hope DK is Teflon coated...

 

[The Large One]

From the report in the Argus, the following things leap out at me.

1. Why did The Argus put Dick Knight’s name up front when he had little or nothing to do with the day-to-day running of the betting company? Kevin Griffiths is not mentioned until the second paragraph.

2. I claim ignorance here, but can you have a non-executive chairman?

3. The Argus says ‘Dick Knight has resigned...’, implying by that language that this was a recent action. He resigned in August.

4. How can this be leapt on by the NIMBYs? Are they going to go to the Public Inquiry and state that ‘the Chairman of Brighton & Hove Albion is a crook?’ I don’t think so. On what evidence?

5. Why apologise to Ernest? If, in the unlikely event that Dick has got his hands dirty - and he has made a categorical denial, this has nothing to do with the way the Albion has been run. Ernest has nothing to say, and he certainly doesn’t have any answers to the Albion’s perennial cashflow problems.

 

[On the Left Wing]

Many chairmen of priavte companies, trusts and especially quangos are non-executive - but doen't necessarily mean he didn't have a pecuniary interest in the company

From the report in the Argus, the following things leap out at me.

1. Why did The Argus put Dick Knight’s name up front when he had little or nothing to do with the day-to-day running of the betting company? Kevin Griffiths is not mentioned until the second paragraph.

2. I claim ignorance here, but can you have a non-executive chairman?

3. The Argus says ‘Dick Knight has resigned...’, implying by that language that this was a recent action. He resigned in August.

4. How can this be leapt on by the NIMBYs? Are they going to go to the Public Inquiry and state that ‘the Chairman of Brighton & Hove Albion is a crook?’ I don’t think so. On what evidence?

5. Why apologise to Ernest? If, in the unlikely event that Dick has got his hands dirty - and he has made a categorical denial, this has nothing to do with the way the Albion has been run. Ernest has nothing to say, and he certainly doesn’t have any answers to the Albion’s perennial cashflow problems.

 

[aftershavedave]

without reading the offending article, the position regarding non-execs is clear...if a business in which they are involved goes belly-up then it's not that good on them personally, notwithstanding that they may not have been heavily involved in the business itself (that's the entire notion of a non-exec). there is absolutely no positive spin to be made out of this situation i'm afraid...

 

[Beach Hut]

OMG - I hope this doesn't ruin Falmer

 

[Lord Bracknell]

There is a great deal of difference between a "failed company" and a "scam".

When a company fails, the questions are:- "why did it happen?" and "who was to blame?"

When it's a scam, the questions are:- "who are these people?" "how can we avoid them in future?"

 

[aftershavedave]

There is a great deal of difference between a "failed company" and a "scam".

When a company fails, the questions are:- "why did it happen?" and "who was to blame?"

When it's a scam, the questions are:- "who are these people?" "how can we avoid them in future?"

entirely correct. differentiating between the two is another matter.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

The problem is that Sporting Options and similar companies are supposed to be structured in a way that gives a cast iron guarantee that clients' money is safe.

When clients' money goes missing, questions have to be asked.

And answered.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

o dear o dear

 

[The Auditor]

The problem is that Sporting Options and similar companies are supposed to be structured in a way that gives a cast iron guarantee that clients' money is safe.

When clients' money goes missing, questions have to be asked.

And answered.

If its similiar to accoutants and solicitors someone could be detained at her majestys pleasure

 

[Halftime Oranges]

Oh pink panties

 

[Pavilionaire]

Knight says in The Argus that he was there as a figurehead, to advise and to help get the company kick-started. If so, I'm wondering why he was still a non-exec almost 4 years later.

Non-execs are there to provide experience, checks and balances against the directors providing poor corporate governance. However, £3.5 million of client monies have gone missing.

As an accountant I think this looks extremely bad for Griffiths and also reflects badly on Knight's judgement, both in who to invite onto the Albion board and how to participate effectively in the running of a public company.

 

[Wardy]

It all depends on when and how the money went missing. If DK left when either the business was doing okay or because he had disagrements over the way it was being run etc etc then he should be okay. However if he left when the money was already going missing then he could be in trouble.

 

[Pavilionaire]

The Argus report suggests that things were going tits up before Knight resigned. The company reported a £1 million loss in August 2003. Comments above suggest that Knight resigned a year after this.