Scottish league striker Kane Hester has been found to have £2,400 cash in his bedside drawer after being accused, along with three others, of plotting to defraud bet365.
The Elgin City player has been accused of intentionally getting booked during a game against Hibernian in a plan to defraud the bookmaker, but has denied the claims during the trial.
The 27-year-old received a yellow card during the first half of the Scottish League Cup game, Crown and defence lawyers established, whilst the three others involved had carried out several financial transactions just before the July 2019 match, of which Willie Collum was the referee.
Reports have outlined that Hester, along with Findlay Soutar, Calvin Parrot and Brodie Myles, are accused of obtaining unlawful winnings of £13,583 through five separate bets.
The BBC has explained that Fiscal deputy Stewart Duncan said it was agreed as fact that ‘Myles had paid money into Soutar’s account and also into an account belonging to Parrott’.
The bookmaker had paid out winnings at odds of 5-1, of which Duncan said it was agreed that combination bets were also placed and won..
An alternate version alleges that the alleged group cheated by placing five bets on Hester being booked and that he was shown a yellow card for a foul – leading to them falsely obtain £13,583.32 in winnings.
The initial accusations came at a time as integrity fell increasingly under the spotlight of international sporting authorities, with the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) revealing that football recorded a 25% increase in suspicious betting activity between 2019 to 2020.
This season, Hester has scored 12 goals in 22 games for Elgin City and has been booked four times and sent off once.