An independent report in Australia claims that by 2027 illegal gambling could cost nearly AU$3 billion ($1.99 billion) in lost taxes and product fees, urging authorities to take appropriate action to prevent the losses.

New Regulation Should Be Evidence-Based

The Australia Offshore Wagering Market Analysis 2023 Report states that by 2027 racing and sports bodies in the country are set to lose AU$1.6 billion ($1.1 billion) from product fees, with another AU$1.3 billion ($861 million) lost in taxes.

Commenting on the report findings, recently appointed chief executive officer of Responsible Wagering Australia (RWA), Kai Cantwell, outlined that any further regulations on the legal wagering industry should be evidence-based and take into consideration the views expressed by the industry, sporting bodies and broadcasters.

“It is crucial that any future reforms are balanced and prevent Australian players from being driven offshore, where player protections are limited,” he said, adamant that “failure to maintain a sustainably regulated sports betting market could result in a significant loss of economic benefits to the Australian economy, as well as to the sporting, racing, and broadcasting industries.”

Prepared by independent data analytics firm H2 Gambling Capital on behalf of Responsible Wagering Australia, the peak body for the licensed wagering service providers in the country, the report also estimates that currently, the offshore market in Australia is approximately 15% of the total market and worth more than AU$1.1 billion ($728 million).

Taking advantage that they do not have to pay tax revenues or product fees, the offshore operators are offering more competitive pricing to Australians compared to their legal counterparts. As a result of offshore firms aggressively targeting locals, the number of their websites increased almost twofold in the past four years, the report highlighted.

Advertising Helps Players Recognize Offshore Firms

The report also urges that a broad and fair onshore market licensing system that favors licensed operators” is maintained as the offshore market, once established, is hard to eradicate. And Data shows that the offshore market is not only established but growing.

Turning to the subject of gambling advertising, the analysis claims that any prevention of advertising and marketing from legal operators will have a negative impact as players would not be able to distinguish between legal and illegal websites.

The lack of advertising for legal operators will also place them at a disadvantage to their competitors offshore which are utilizing affiliate websites to advertise their products and services regularly and those affiliates are located outside of the country and hard to police.

“RWA and its members look forward to the outcomes of the House of Representatives Inquiry into Online Gambling and will continue to work with government to discuss sensible measures that ensure that the six million Australians who enjoy a punt can do so safely,” Cantwell concluded.

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A woman who squandered more than £3.5 million ($4.35 million) while spread betting and lied about her debts to escape bankruptcy was spared prison on Friday after being found guilty of making a false representation.

Gambling Her Way Out of Debt

Juliana ‘Leah’ Posman, a 43-year-old Indonesian-born businesswoman accumulated huge debts while catering to her gambling addiction of betting on the movements of the German DAX stock market index, and then lied to her creditors about her debt, reported Daily Mail.

Seeking to avoid bankruptcy, Posman signed an individual voluntary arrangement with her creditors to repay her debts over time but deliberately failed to declare that she already had £91,646.93 debt with her previous broker, CMC Spread Bet, while continuing to spread bet with another.

Arrested and charged with making a false representation for the purpose of obtaining approval of creditors, Posman appeared before Lewes Crown Court in East Sussex on Friday.

Andrew Herd, prosecuting, claimed that Posman’s action was “a calculated omission” as not including the information about her debt even when advised to make a full disclosure was “motivated by the financial and practical benefits of avoiding bankruptcy.”

A spokesperson for the Insolvency Service stated that Posman “sought to flagrantly abuse the bankruptcy process and leave creditors out of pocket by taking out the individual voluntary arrangement without disclosing the significant debt from her gambling account.”

“This is a serious offense and her conviction should serve as a warning to anyone else that trying to escape debts in this way is wholly unacceptable,” the Insolvency Service spokesperson concluded.

After jurors unanimously found her guilty of a single charge of making a false representation, Judge Stephen Mooney sentenced her to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months. Mooney also ordered Posman to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and attend 20 hours of rehabilitation related to her gambling addiction.

She seems to be addicted to spread betting which is very high risk and she tried to gamble her way out of it. That’s a classic trait in someone who is addicted to gambling.

Judge Stephen Mooney

Posman Fleeced Her Husband and Parents-in-Law

For Posman, who is the ex-wife of Christopher Forte, a distant relative of the Forte hotel family, falling into debt is nothing new as her gambling addiction began showing its ugly head soon after her marriage in 2014 when she began asking her husband for large sums of money.

She claimed she needed the money to build her bank account with assets of her own but in 2016 her husband received a letter informing him that she had borrowed £2.5 million ($3.1 million) and had told her lenders that he would guarantee the loans for which he knew nothing about.

Posman then admitted she had lost several million while spread betting and had given £250,000 ($310,500) to her parents and £750,000 ($931,500) to her brother. Moved by her tearful pleas for money, her husband had lent her £45,000 ($55,890) while his parents had lent her their life savings, £131,330 ($163,111).

Following the couple’s divorce in 2017, Posman pledged to return the money by paying £1,700 a month.

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