BetButler Closure and Insolvency

[nevicko]

Hi everyone

Looking for a bit of legal help advice, basically some layman translations of a situation.

BetButler was a betting brokerage service which closed in August 2014. Over the course of 2014 they had stopped paying withdrawals to customers and there was clearly something wrong with the company.

The regulator (the UK Gambling Commission) revoked the licence of the company shortly after the company itself closed its doors.

This has left hundreds of customers with money in BetButler that they can't get at.

A couple of weeks ago the Gambling Commission confirmed that Insolve Plus had been appointed as insolvency practitioners by BetButler and that creditors should contact Insolve Plus. I then received an email yesterday from Insolve Plus stating the following.

Please note that the meetings of members and creditors, to place the company into creditors voluntary liquidation, have not as yet been convened. In order to convene these meetings, the director must hold a board meeting to pass resolutions to formally instructed Insolve Plus Ltd to make the necessary arrangements. To date, the director has not held the necessary meetings and therefore Insolve Plus Ltd has not been formally instructed.

Yours sincerely

Sylwia Starzynska
For Anthony Hyams FCCA
Insolve Plus Ltd

The gambling commission, insolve plus and betbutler are not talking to anyone. Can anyone on here shed some light on what might be happening?

Seems to me that if the company is insolvent then they should be in liquidation, but insolve plus don't seem to think they've reached that stage yet.

If the company isn't in liquidation, but have closed their doors and can't offer the service they previously advertised (website shut and licence to revoked), but customers can't get their funds, is it possible that this is an actual crime like theft?

Be great to hear any thoughts/experiences on this from the legal beagles!

Further reading on the situation here http://www.thegamblingtimes.com/boar...tml#post526279 where people are sharing information on BetButler and their options to recover their money.

[wales01man]

Re: BetButler Closure and Insolvency

If they go into liquidation you and others will be in a long queue for your money.
If they are not trading or carrying on with their business unlikely they are breaking the law

[nevicko]

Re: BetButler Closure and Insolvency

If they go into liquidation you and others will be in a long queue for your money.
If they are not trading or carrying on with their business unlikely they are breaking the law

Thanks for the response Wales01man

Now it's clear they can't trade, shouldn't they be liquidating their assets as soon as possible to maximise the amount they could return to creditors?

Or would a potential sale (only rumoured at this stage) give them a stay on that?

[wales01man]

Re: BetButler Closure and Insolvency

If a Liquidator IS appointed they will try to sell the company .
Have you checked on Companies House to see the status of the Company Have they filed accounts or are they Dissolved which would mean NO money

[nevicko]

Re: BetButler Closure and Insolvency

So the appointment of an 'insolvency practitioner' is more the preamble to the official insolvency and liquidation?

Both BetButler and parent company BetClearer are currently showing as active on company house. Last accounts (very late for both companies) show negative net assets.

The message from the regulator was

BetButler update: appointment of insolvency practitioner

19 September 2014
On 18 September 2014 the Gambling Commission revoked the operating licence of BetButler Ltd. We understand it can be very distressing for customers when an operator stops trading but it is not within our remit to help them obtain any funds they believe they are owed. However, we can now inform customers that that Bet Butler has appointed an insolvency practitioner, InsolvePlus. We understand that InsolvePlus is seeking to arrange a meeting of creditors and has invited customers who believe they are owed money by Bet Butler to contact them. You can do so by email to sylwia@insolveplus.com.

Is that message at odds with the one in the first post from Insolve Plus, or does that simply follow the appointment not being almost an admission of the company needing to be liquidated?

[wales01man]

Re: BetButler Closure and Insolvency

I think in reality whatever is stated by whoever that your money has gone most likely the company has nothing to pay anyone

[nevicko]

Re: BetButler Closure and Insolvency

Thanks Wales, fear you are right!

[nevicko]

Re: BetButler Closure and Insolvency

I think in reality whatever is stated by whoever that your money has gone most likely the company has nothing to pay anyone

Bit of new information

Bet Butler customers have been sent an email from Insolve Plus asking to submit their claims with evidence etc.

Bet Butler was owned by Bet Clearer, only Bet Butler is being liquidated.

Back in June a T&C update was sent to Bet Butler customers stating that client funds were held in an account in the name of Bet Clearer.

We also know that the client database was sold for £1 to Momaco.co.

Is a company allowed to hold the funds in one entity, and the liabilities in another like that? And then sell the only item of any value (in this case the client database) for a nominal sum?

All seems a bit odd. More information including the letter from Insolve Plus here.