7 March 2023
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A Scottish league footballer accused of hatching a plot with good friends to defraud a bookie had more than ₤ 2,000 in his bedside drawer, a trial heard.
Elgin City striker Kane Hester was found with the cash when his household home was raided.
He rejects backing himself to get scheduled throughout a match against Hibs as part of a scheme with three others to defraud Bet365.
Findlay Soutar, Calvin Parrott and Brodie Myres also reject the charge.
In a joint statement concurred by the Crown and defence lawyers, it was verified that Mr Hester had gotten a yellow card during the first half of the Scottish League Cup video game.
It also validated that the 3 other implicated had carried out a variety of financial transactions in the hours before the match in July 2019.
Fiscal depute Stewart Duncan checked out the declaration to jurors at Dundee Sheriff Court where the implicated, all from Montrose, have gone on trial.
Suspicious wagering patterns
Mr Duncan stated it was agreed as fact that Mr Myres had paid cash into Mr Soutar's account and likewise into an account coming from Mr Parrott.
He said bets worth thousands of pounds had actually been positioned on Mr Hester getting scheduled and the bookie had paid out earnings at chances of 5-1.
Mr Duncan said it was agreed that mix bets - consisting of Mr Hester getting a yellow card - were likewise placed and won by members of the implicated group.
The Scottish Football Association stepped in to produce an efficiency review of Mr Hester throughout the match after being alerted about suspicious wagering patterns on the game.
The court was shown footage of Hester's home being raided and the footballer telling officers he knew what they were there for and would take them to the cash.
Hester stated: "Do you understand what would be simpler? I know what you are discussing. There's no point mucking you about.
"I have actually got the cash, it's at home. If I take you home and provide you the cash, that's what took place.
"I was scheduled in a video game and my buddies gave me money for it - ₤ 2,500."
Mr Hester is declared to have actually outlined before the match with three others to put a series of bets on him being scheduled by the referee.
The court heard ₤ 2,400 was later on found in his bedside drawer.
The charge declares the 4 guys received ₤ 17,333.32 in payments from Bet365 in 2019, which ₤ 13,583.32 of it was obtained as illegal profits.
An alternate version of the charge declares they cheated at betting by positioning five bets on Mr Hester being reserved which he was shown a yellow card for a foul, resulting in them wrongly obtaining ₤ 13,583.32 in jackpots.
The trial, before Sheriff Paul Brown, continues.
Montrose