A so-called ‘best friend’ who stole £20,000 from poker pro Luke Brereton has avoided jail after pleading guilty to fraud , Chester Crown Court hearing that Amer Siddique used the stolen money to bet on football and horse racing.
Former public schoolboy Siddique, 38, who has held several jobs in the gambling industry, stole the money in 2018 after Brereton – a close friend of many years – had handed his bank card over during his birthday celebration lunch, for Siddique to book a train ticket. “Mr Brereton simply thought that his friend was helping him out by booking a train ticket for him,” Chris Hopkins, prosecuting, told the court. “But while doing so, Mr Siddique obtained Mr Brereton’s bank details which enabled him to open an account with William Hill.” Over the next three weeks, Siddique drained his friend’s bank account of £19,399, leaving him with just £300. He made more than 100 transactions in a matter of days, later confessing that “gambling got out of hand.”
Brereton, who had returned to the US, only realised something was amiss at the end of the month, contacting the bank before Siddique sent him a WhatsApp message stating: “Mate, I f***ed up. I will pay it back.” However, the Crown Court in Chester, England, heard that not a single penny has been repaid in the 4 years since the incident, the pandemic and other reasons delaying the cohort case until this month.
Brereton revealed how difficult things have been made by Siddique’s treachery. He told police:
“At first I questioned my own sanity as I did not know how this could have happened. I’m heartbroken as Amer was such a close friend. I consider myself a loyal and trustworthy person but I feel this was misplaced with him.”
The Florida-resident Englishman, who has career tournament earnings of $1,492,315, explained: “Being a professional poker player may seem to an outsider to be easy money – but it’s not. I have worked very hard to develop and keep a hold of it and it takes years of building and sacrifice. The money in that bank account was […]
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