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Melbourne businessman Allen Ngcredit: Source: clarkofthecourse.com
Three Supreme Court justices – Justices Mary Kennedy, Cameron McCauley and Kevin Lyons – upheld the appeal.
They classified the bets as “unauthorized gambling” because the bookmaker’s customer account form was not signed or registered with Racing Victoria. As a result, the $150,000 debt was written off.
Let's bet
Two weeks after the Supreme Court ruling, McLauchlan spoke to this site about the case. Sitting in his apartment in south Melbourne, he shook his head in disbelief. Up until then, he felt like he had done everything right — from the moment a mutual friend introduced him to Ng at a midweek meeting at Sandown Racecourse on February 8, 2020.
“This guy wanted to bet with someone on credit who would accept his reasonably large bets,” McLaughlin said of their acquaintance.
The betting company said it registered Ng's name, address, bank details, email address and mobile phone number with Racing Victoria to obtain a code that would allow them to open a credit betting account.
Three weeks later, he took a photo of Ng’s driver’s license so he could register the bettor’s date of birth with Racing Victoria. At all times, Racing Victoria had access to their betting records and for this reason, McLauchlan believed their transactions were legal.
Since they met, Ng had placed more than 270 bets over 10 weeks. At first, he was a “prolific winner.” On certain days, the bookie would win $7,000, $8,000, $9,000, and $22,000. He would always ask for the closing balance and the bookie would always pay.
They texted back and forth. The betting was tense, but the banter was friendly.
“You're a genius,” McLaughlin said after Ng boasted about his victories.
They even swapped photos. McLauchlan posted a picture of a glass of wine from his farm, while Ng sent the bookie a picture of his home office, a “state-of-the-art” setup with five computer screens and two televisions so he could watch the races.
“To me, this is very professional,” McLaughlin said.
I told him: You are more organized than me.
A day from hell
The turning point came at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. While Victoria went into lockdown for 43 days from 31 March 2020, the racing industry was given a reprieve and allowed to continue.
The races were on, and Ng continued to bet. Saturday, April 18, 2020, was the darkest day of his life.
McLauchlan's records show that Ng placed 16 bets at Randwick, Caulfield and Morphettville. He lost $134,000 and by the end of that day, he owed McLauchlan $152,000.
The knockout was a $16,500 bet on Phaistos to win the final race at Randwick for $5 for a return of $82,500. Phaistos, ridden by Kieren McEvie, looked set for victory before losing in a painful draw finish.
His bets included $20,000 on Bivouac to win the All Aged Stakes at Randwick at $3.80 (the fast runner, ridden by Hugh Bowman, finished fifth of 14), $10,000 each-way on Mahamedeis at Caulfield at the bookmakers' highest odds on the track (the horse finished ninth of 13), $15,000 on Dr Drill to win the final race at Randwick (he finished 11th of 14 under Tom Marquand) and $10,000 on Mr Quickie at Caulfield (who started as a $1.90 favourite and finished second). He also had seven $10,000 bets.
Time to settle down
“He asked me to go to his factory… He owned a factory, and his office was upstairs,” McLaughlin said.
“It was cabinet making or shop fitting or something. So he made me a cup of Chinese tea and said, ‘Look, here’s $2,000, I just need some time to get the rest.’ I said, ‘That’s good.’ And then time went by, over and over again.”
McLauchlan said one of Ng’s associates contacted him about the settlement payments, but they were never made. Eventually, the bookmaker felt compelled to act.
In February the following year, McLauchlan sent a letter to Ng, notifying him of legal action: “Dear Allen, From Monday my solicitors at AMS Law will be instructed to recover your debt. I have contacted Racing Victoria officials, and they are awaiting instructions from AMS Law.”
Consequences
Unauthorised gambling is illegal – a crime punishable by a maximum fine of $165,220 and/or two years in prison. So what McLauchlan doesn’t understand is how Racing Victoria allowed the betting to continue for more than two months if what he and Ng were doing was illegal.
“If I was guilty of not getting this guy's autograph, but they [Racing Victoria] “They asked him who he was, took his driver’s license, saw him handing over a lot of money, why didn’t they stop me and fine me or give me a warning?” he said.
“They left it as it was. While I was losing, everyone was happy.”
Racing Victoria declined to comment.
But in a decision that came too late for McLauchlan, the rule requiring a signed and completed written authorization before accepting bets over the phone was scrapped in 2023.
McLauchlan said he didn't ask people to feel sorry for him because he “spent all his money.”
“But it’s wrong for someone to win a hundred million dollars from you, and if he wins twenty thousand dollars, he doesn’t have to pay. Nothing in that case. It can’t all be one way,” he said.
“It’s not going to destroy me, no. But first of all, you don’t like to be taken advantage of. That’s the first reason. And that makes you bitter. I think this guy—not that I need to be taught a lesson—but he’s changed my trust in people who you don’t have long-term relationships with. And that’s unfortunate.”
The Supreme Court's decision “was ultimately about the law,” Ng told The Herald by telephone.
“There were three Supreme Court justices who looked at the law, and in the end, the law won,” Ng said.
Ng said he did not want to go back to the evidence presented in the district court because he had “already been through that ordeal”.
He said he had made contact with McLauchlan after April 18, 2020, but they were “ignored” and when the bookmaker took the matter to court, it “made it difficult”.
He said the betting company did the wrong thing, and that the case had cost him a lot of money.
“It’s a matter of principle,” Ng said. “You look at the rules, and the rules say he didn’t act right with me. Not just with me, I think you should look at other gamblers who are in the same situation as me.
“Shouldn’t it be the bookmaker’s job? And the authorities? To make sure things are done right?”
Asked if he still had a bet, Ng said: “It doesn't matter.”
In 2023, the state government supported a recommendation to transfer and consolidate all licensing, monitoring and enforcement of betting laws from racing authorities to the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission.
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