AS many as five people are to be prosecuted by the Gambling Commission for bets on the General Election date, reports claim.
Rishi Sunak’s shock election revelation in May that voters would head to the polls in July rocked UK politics.
Though it is understood a small circle of advisers knew Sunak was planning on calling a snap election ahead of the announcement.
One of Sunak’s close protection police officers – an unnamed cop from the Met’s royalty and specialist protection command – was taken into custody and bailed for allegedly placing a bet on the election date.
And the Conservative party was submerged in yet more scandals in the days that followed, when Sunak’s Sunak’s former parliamentary private secretary, Craig Williams confessed having “put a flutter” on an early July election – ahead of Sunak’s announcement.
The £100 bet was placed at a Ladbrokes, in his home constituency of Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr.
The Met dropped their investigations into the betting scandal, saying ‘it was determined that the high bar for Misconduct in Public Office to be proven was not met’.
But the Gambling Commission – who raised the alarm with Scotland Yard after their own investigations – would continue with its own inquiry.
It is prohibited to use inside information to place a bet, and the Gambling Act makes it illegal to cheat with “attempted deception of interference”.
Sky News have reported that a politician and a close protection officer are amongst between three and five individuals the Gambling Commission would bring charges against, though were unable to comment who they’d be.
Laura Saunders, a Bristol North West candidate, was one of those probed by the regulator.
It’s alleged she also placed a bet on the election date alongside her husband Tony Lee, the Tories’ director of campaigning.
Both he and chief data officer, Nick Mason, took leaves of absence following the news being broken.
While Russell George has since returned to the front bench having stepped down briefly while under investigation in Wales.
The Gambling Commission, as per the Times, said: “We clearly appreciate the level of public interest there is in this ongoing investigation but to protect the integrity of the investigation and to ensure a fair and just outcome, we are unable to comment further at this time, including the name of any person who may be under suspicion, or the total number of suspects.”
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