A London-based bookmaker has vehemently defended itself in the face of an article that was originally published by Daily Telegraph columnist Paul Kelso. Samvo Group contacted us after we had published some of the quotes in our original article on the fact the City of London Police had decided to delve into their offices during two unannounced visits.
We earlier spoke to David Miller, Senior Marketing Manager at Samvo. He took “umbridge” with the fact that the police turning up at their premises with a search warrant has been widely reported as a “raid”.
Miller said, “There was no ‘raid’. As the police will confirm, a visit is standard practice when seeking information which constitutes personal data about third parties. Throughout the investigation into Sapina’s conduct, Samvo has provided its full support to the City of London Police and to the German Authorities, both of which have acknowledged their gratitude to Samvo for the assistance provided.”
The dates on which the cops announced that they were “coming in” were confirmed as November 2009 and May 2011. Samvo reiterated that they only received surprise forays on two occasions, not the three times that were mentioned previously.
With regard to the accounts held by Ante Sapina and his fixing buddies, Millar explained, “Any accounts which were identified by the German Authorities as being potentially connected to the activities of Sapina or the other Defendants were promptly suspended by Samvo and any monies held in those accounts were transferred to the German Court.”
The scandal itself saw ringleader Sapina jailed for five years after the group fixed hundreds of matches who made millions of Euros from the German soccer industry.
