A FORMER Sky Sports presenter has been banned as a director after his company went into administration owing investors more than £10 million.
Football betting firm boss Alan Bentley, who worked for the broadcaster between 1996 and 2001, allowed his Bentley Global (UK) Limited company to obtain more than £1.5m from investors during late 2019 and the first half of 2020, promising returns of up to 20%.
Investors’ funds were to be used to place bets on the outcomes of football matches using an artificial intelligence algorithm called Algol88.
However, no evidence was produced that Bentley Global (UK) Limited was actually betting on football matches in that period, HMRC said.
Bentley Global (UK) Limited also had no known source of trading income in that time, having suffered losses of more than £5m by August 2019 and over £4m by August 2018.
The 63-year-old from Essex has been banned as a company director for 11 years.
Bentley’s brother, Brian Bentley, was also disqualified as a company director in 2024 for misconduct while he was a director at Bentley Global (UK) Limited.
Kevin Read, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “Alan Bentley’s company secured more than £1.5m from hundreds of investors under a bond investment scheme during a nine-month period in 2019 and 2020 when there was no evidence of any trading.
“Bentley knew the company had made huge losses and was unable to pay its debts. His company had no reasonable prospect of being able to repay the investments and interest payments under the bond scheme because of its dire financial position.
“Directors have a responsibility to be honest and transparent with investors, especially when handling their money. This case sends a clear message that those who abuse their position and mislead investors will not be able to continue to act as company directors.”
