UK gamblegate investigation: Gambling Commission expects probe to last several more months
The British gambling regulator has confirmed that more senior Conservative Party figures are helping with the investigation.
UK.- The British Gambling Commission expects its probe into a scandal that’s been dubbed ‘gamblegate’ to continue for several more months. The regulator has hired former police officers to help with the probe and has seized documents from the Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ).
The commission has confirmed that more Conservative Party figures are helping with its investigation. New figures involved in the investigation include former deputy prime minister Sir Oliver Dowden. He becomes the most senior person to be interviewed as part of the probe, but he was interviewed as a witness, not as a subject.
Craig Williams and the former Downing Street chief of staff Liam Booth-Smith have also been interviewed. Williams is a subject of the investigation, having admitted that he bet £100 on the election date just days before it was announced.
What is the Gamblegate scandal?
Several Conservative Party politicians were found to have placed bets on the date of the July 4 general election in the UK, including Craig Williams, an aide to the former prime minister Rishi Sunak, and Laura Saunders, the candidate for Bristol North West. The cases raised questions about the potential use of insider knowledge.
The Metropolitan Police has announced that it has ended its investigation into alleged betting offences and that the evidence available did not meet the threshold to prove misconduct in public office, but, at the time of publication, the Gambling Commission continues to investigate the incidents.
The regulator is investigating whether they constitute breaches of the Gambling Act through the use of confidential information to gain an unfair advantage in a bet. Seven police officers are also under investigation.
