Problem gambling can lead to dire consequences for the people affected, including their families. People that have a difficult time controlling their gambling habit can get into debt or in some severe cases resort to crimes or even take their own life. In Australia, gambling is widely spread. So much, in fact, that hundreds of millions are lost to gambling on a monthly basis, resulting in billions of losses annually.

As gambling doesn’t mix well with alcohol, the same goes for people that manage funds and may suffer from problem gambling. Now, a new report released by ABC reveals that a former financial advisor from Perth, accused of stealing more than AU$1 million ($678,500) from clients, is on trial. The man, who allegedly stole money from investors, spent it on online gambling.

The 41-year-old, Mark Raymond Sebo, represents himself in court and denied the allegations. Previously, the financial advisor pleaded not guilty to 36 charges of stealing money from eight different clients. Allegations against Sebo claimed that he stole more than AU$1 million ($678,500) over 10 days. The alleged incident occurred between July and August 2019.

Allegations Claim the Investors’ Money Was Spent on Gambling

The prosecution against Sebo at the WA’s District Court claimed that Sebo was approached by some of his clients, who questioned the transactions they saw on their accounts. However, allegedly the financial advisor told them to file a complaint with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the country’s independent government body in charge of regulating financial services, authorized financial markets and consumer credits, among other financial matters.

The prosecution claimed that in one text message, Sebo wrote: “This is my error … I can no longer fix it for anyone as my accounts have been frozen.” Then, allegedly the financial advisor wrote: “The best you can do at the moment is make a complaint to ASIC.”

So far, no money has been recovered, while Paul Usher, the state prosecutor, alleged that Sebo’s actions violated an agreement with his clients. The financial advisor was in charge of funds belonging to his clients, but he was not given permission to transfer those funds to his business and personal accounts, claimed Usher.

Additionally, the state prosecutor said that evidence would show that the financial advisor spent the money he has taken from his clients’ accounts on gambling via three different online operators. While the trial continues it is yet to be determined whether Sebo will face any penalty and if so, what it might be.

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A month ago, Los Angeles lawyer Sara King made headlines after using a $10 million business investment to live in luxury. Now, amid an ongoing lawsuit, King claims that her husband, the Iranian royal Kamran Pahlavi, forced her to waste the money, The Daily Beast reported.

Thanks to her relationship with Pahlavi, King was introduced to the Swiss banker Laurent Reiss. Reiss, though his LDR International company, provided King’s personal business, King Family Lending (KFL), with a $10.2 million investment.

KFL allowed customers to receive quick cash for collateral such as cars, jewelry and luxurious items.

However, King did not use the money to fund third-party loans, as originally agreed with Reiss. Instead, LDR International alleges, the woman used the money to move into the Wynn Las Vegas resort and live and gamble there for half a year.

As a result, LDR International launched a lawsuit against King. The prosecution claims that King had a gambling problem and would bet ludicrous amounts of money on slots in Vegas. Amid the ongoing lawsuit, King came forward with a new claim, saying that it was, in fact, Pehlavi who forced her to do all of this.

Pehlavi is the grandson of the Shah’s twin, Princess Ashraf. According to King and her defense, the Iranian royalty understood that his wife was good at slots and made her play. The woman’s attorneys allege that she loved her husband so much that she didn’t question him and kept on playing.
According to the defense, Pahlavi hoped that King, who allegedly called herself “the slots whisperer,” would earn money to cover a debt to LDR International.

“She Ruined My Life and Now This?”

Pahlavi was outraged by King’s claims. In an interview with The Daily Beast, he slammed his wife’s allegations and said that she was an addict. Pahlavi noted that forcing someone to gamble is a ludicrous idea and noted that he find it difficult to get his wife off the machines.

What kind of a person would push his wife to gamble with his best friend’s money? How does that make any sense?

Kamran Pahlavi

Pahlavi noted that King continued to play even when he wasn’t around.

The Iranian royal says that he has now moved to Morocco to escape from King. He has filed for divorce and hopes to cut his ties with his problem gambler wife.

“She betrayed me. Lied to me. Stole from me. Embarrassed me. Humiliated me. That’s not bad for a reason to break up,” Pahlavi told The Daily Beast in an earlier interview.

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