According to a report in the UK’s Daily Mail newspaper, the head of one of the nation’s leading bookmakers was arrested in France for allegedly taking bets on horses.
The newspaper reported that Victor Chandler, one of the first bookies to start an online business that he still runs from Gibraltar, and three other bookmakers were arrested during the Arc De Triomphe race meeting at Longchamps on Sunday for illegally taking bets.
The group, believed to include Chandler's nephew and rails representative Butch Beaton-Brown, were caught in a raid on the corporate facility for British race-goers run by Horse Racing Abroad, a group that takes around 1,300 fans to the Paris venue every year.
The Daily Mail stated that Chandler was questioned by French police from their racecourse gambling unit and told not to leave the country before a further interview the next day, supposedly prompting the multi-millionaire to stay overnight at a suite in the five-star George V Hotel just off the Champs-Elysees in the French capital.
Ian Fry, boss of Horse Racing Abroad, was quoted in the newspaper as saying that he had seen none of the party of more than ten gendarmes that raided his pavilion at Longchamps nor had he seen Chandler at the racecourse.
However, following further questioning, Chandler was not held by French police and allowed to leave the country.
“Four people from Victor Chandler were questioned by French police on Monday in respect of various aspects regarding entertaining at Longchamps and they were subsequently released without charge,” said a spokesperson for Victor Chandler. |
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