The former CEO of British betting company Entain, owner of Ladbrokes and other senior directors appeared in a London court on Monday, charged with bribery and fraud related to gambling in Türkiye.
Kenny Alexander, the former chief executive of the company, now known as GVC, is charged with conspiracy to bribe and conspiracy to defraud between 2011 and 2018.
Alexander, 56, led the company from 2007 and transformed it from an upstart gambling firm into an FTSE 100 business, orchestrating the 4 billion euros ($5.37 billion) acquisition of Ladbrokes Coral, announced in 2017.
GVC's former non-executive chairperson, Lee Feldman, 57 and ex-CFO Richard Cooper, 64, are also charged with conspiracy to bribe and conspiracy to defraud.
The conspiracy to defraud charge alleges Alexander, Feldman, Cooper and others conspired to defraud financial institutions or those performing financial monitoring or compliance functions by concealing the source of money made from gambling in Türkiye.
None of the defendants was asked to enter a plea to any of the charges and were granted bail until their next court appearance at Southwark Crown Court on Nov. 3.
A lawyer for Alexander was not immediately available for comment, but he previously told the Financial Times that the case would be "vigorously defended."
Entain stated in a press release when the charges were announced in August that neither Entain nor any of its current employees had been charged.
