Entain hit by lawsuit from ex-bosses connected to bribery investigation

The former Chair and Chief Executive of Entain are suing the operator and its primary law firm, Addleshaw Goddard (AG), over information shared as part of a £615m prosecution deal.

According to the Financial Times, ex-CEO Kenny Alexander and former Non-Executive Chair Lee Feldman filed the claim last Thursday regarding failures to prevent bribery at its legacy Turkish arm. 

AG advised Entain on its deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) in 2023 and was its regular law firm in the years beforehand.

Alexander and Feldman claim Entain and AG may have disclosed privileged information to investigators without obtaining their consent. The pair are seeking a court order to see any information shared with prosecutors. 

Entain agreed to the prosecution deal after a lengthy probe by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). However, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is still deciding whether criminal charges can be brought against any individuals.

This lawsuit comes shortly after its CEO Gavin Isaacs stepped down, and follows negative headlines about Ladbrokes, a company owned by Entain, which was claimed to have used baby monitors to target ads at new parents. 

In the lawsuit, Alexander and Feldman are looking to establish that they were clients of AG, along with Entain, meaning they should have access to the advice the law firm gave the operator regarding the Turkish business. 

“The claimants understand that the company and/or AG may have disclosed, in the course of the investigation and/or in the course of the DPA or otherwise, privileged materials to HMRC, the CPS [ . . . ] or other third parties,” the former executives stated in the claim. 

“Where the privilege in those materials was a joint privilege shared by the claimants, the company was not entitled to waive privilege without the consent of the claimants,” they added.

The claimants have also requested that the court order Entain and AG to provide them with a list of the legal advice that has been disclosed as part of the criminal probe and the resulting DPA.

When contacted by the FT, an Entain spokesperson said: “Entain considers the claim to be without merit and it will contest it robustly.” 

A spokesperson for Alexander and Feldman added that they relied on the legal advice of AG during their time with Entain. They claim they have been repeatedly denied access to review this advice and are therefore bringing this claim to ensure their personal interests were properly protected.