Former public schoolboy Amer Siddique has avoided jail after admitting he stole almost £20,000 from his friend professional poker player Luke Brereton. The gambling industry professional used Brereton’s bank card details to make over 100 withdrawals for betting on football and horse racing.
Amer Siddique Steals £20,000 from Poker Pro Luke Brereton
Amer Siddique, 38, pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation at Chester Crown Court and was sentenced to a 12-month community order with a requirement that he carries out 150 hours of unpaid work.
Julian Farley, counsel for the defence, said in mitigation:
“Perhaps he could have been more proactive. If he had paid it back or at least part of it he would not have found himself in court today. There is a realistic prospect of Mr Siddique being rehabilitated and an immediate custodial sentence would have an effect on his ability to repay Mr Brereton and also on his six-year-old daughter.
“He spends time with her every other weekend and during the summer holidays.. He clearly regrets what has happened. It is an unpleasant offence to do that to a friend and he knows that. He has let himself and his family down and he has lost a lifetime friend he has enjoyed spending time with.”
Betrayed
Luke Brereton and Amer Siddique had been close friends until the theft took place in October 2018. The pair regularly spent time together when Brereton, now living in the United States, was in the UK.
The prosecution told the court that Siddique booked a train ticket for Brereton using the victim’s debit card during lunch in a restaurant and later used the details to open a William Hill account.
Over the next few days, Siddique made more than 100 transactions to feed his gambling addiction without Brereton becoming aware.
It was only a few weeks later, once Brereton had returned to the US, that he spotted the money was missing and informed William Hill to close any accounts related to the card.
On November 16, Siddique sent a WhatsApp message to Brereton saying that he had messed up and promised to return the money, but none was ever repaid, leaving Brereton no choice other than to go to the police.
Brereton said that the £20,000 was his entire net worth in the UK and emphasised how hard he had worked at his poker career. With $1,492,315 in live tournament earnings Brereton is clearly a talented player but not at the level where he can burn £20,000 without worrying.
“I’m heartbroken as Amer was such a close friend”
“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. 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 my entire UK net worth.”
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