“I was a gambling addict, I stole $1.6 million from my employer and ended up in jail”

Andy May appeared to be living a comfortable life with his partner and two children in a rural village in Norfolk, eastern England, when there was a knock on the door.

A company’s CFO’s only run-in with the law was a single speeding ticket.

But the police at his door wanted to question him.

The 47 year old man had stolen $1.6 million from his employer to finance his gambling addiction, which led to him being sentenced to four years in prison.

In this first-person testimonial, Andy shares the importance of seeking help if you have a gambling problem before it gets out of hand.

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I placed a bet of about €6 or €12 on football matches over the weekend. I never saw that as something dangerous. But as I progressed in life, the ability to borrow money emerged.

Without realizing it, the game took me over. I started betting €19 weekly and then €60. That $60 became $130, which quickly became $600 a month.

I had losses that I knew I shouldn’t have, but when you’re in the moment you do it anyway. That was around 2007. That’s when my family realized the problem.

My partner and I were buying our first home, but I lost the down payment in the game. My parents helped me and I vowed never to play again.

I haven’t gambled for seven years, I haven’t even bought a lottery ticket.

But I owe those seven years purely to willpower. I didn’t try to get help. I led a normal and happy life and gradually forgot my past problems.

In the summer of 2014, I watched the World Cup in Brazil at home.

An advertisement appeared on television offering a $60 free bet.

As I sat there I thought, well, what harm can it do?

Again

After two weeks I went back to gambling at the level I had ended up at before.

Six months later he had spent $60,000. I started taking out credit cards and racking up even more debt. In February 2015, I had no money left at all.

I was the CFO of a company I had worked for for twenty years and had a corporate credit card.

During my lunch breaks, I started going to an ATM and gambling with that money.

By now I was betting on everything I could, from the number of corners in a football match to yellow cards, usually on the internet, on my phone or on my office laptop.

No amount of money would have been enough. I came home at lunchtime to collect the bills and I did the same at work.

I started paying my personal credit card with the company’s bank account. Over a period of four and a half years I stole more than €1.6 million (£1.3 million) from my employer.

Everything got out of hand. All I thought about was gambling. He stole money left and right.

In the summer of 2019, I was finally discovered at work and it was almost a relief when I was fired.

But I lied to my family, telling them I had a fight with my boss and found a new job within 15 days.

Justice

It took a year for the police to arrive and on a Saturday afternoon in June 2020 there was a knock on the door.

My partner opened it. At that moment I knew what they wanted.

Six months later I was in the local court and in June 2021 I was sentenced to four years in prison.

Seeing my kids go to school the day I went to prison was the worst day of my life.

I explained it to them as best I could, but they didn’t understand it well. After that we didn’t see each other for six months.

The impact of my addiction and the crime I committed on those closest to me has been far worse than a prison sentence.

Before I went in, I was put in touch with an amazing charity called the Epic Restart Foundation, which helped me rebuild my life.

I talked to people who had overcome addiction and they gave me hope.

In jail

I went to prison with the intention of keeping my head down. I spent six months at HMP Peterborough, in a barred-window cell shared with a stranger.

There were 11 steps in one direction and seven in the other.with a bathroom in the corner, a short distance from where you ate.

The only thing I wasn’t prepared for was sheer boredom.

We were locked up 23 hours a day. You could leave your cell to shower, walk around the sports field and get food, but otherwise you were alone. Then they started letting me go to the library once a week.

I spent the last 18 months of my sentence in an open prison in Norwich, where you will work in the community.

I started working for construction company Kier Group, which runs an employment program for ex-offenders.

I asked the warden of my new prison if I could attend the local Gamblers Anonymous group meeting, which I did I still do it every week.

In total I spent two years in prison and was released on parole in the summer.

I didn’t think anyone would hire me again, but I still work for Kier, which has really helped me get my life back on track.

I had to pay everything I had to my employer. The bookmakers’ records show that I spent $2 million and stole just over $1.6 million, most of which was returned to my boss.

Last

Looking back, I feel like the moment I hit rock bottom wasn’t when I went to prison. But then I got stuck in the game. Mentally I was at the worst moment.

I had to go to prison for the crime I committed, you can’t do what I did and expect anything different.

For me, an important part of recovery is taking responsibility and accountability for what happened.

I’m not proud of what I’ve done, but I’m learning not to be ashamed.

I can only imagine the impact my crime had on my former colleagues, some of whom I had known for decades.

An apology is a pretty weak statement after everything that’s happened, but it’s the best I can do. There are so many things I would like to change.

I volunteer for the charity GambleAware and share my story.

When I went to prison, I promised myself I wouldn’t back down. All I can do is speak in hopes of convincing others to act differently.

Do I think I can ever play again? Unfortunately, the answer is probably yes. But what I focus on every day is make sure you don’t do it today. There is nothing I can gain that will improve my life, and instead I have everything to lose.

I would be playing with so many things that aren’t money, like my recovery, all the relationships I’ve managed to save, and the trust people have built in me. It just doesn’t make sense.

My life has changed significantly because of my addiction, but things are much better than I thought when I first walked into that cell and I am grateful that I still have a close bond with my children.

I am aware that for many people gambling is a completely safe, enjoyable and harmless leisure activity. For me it started like that, but it grew into something completely different.

I hope this might spark a thought in someone’s mind to start a conversation. before it goes too far.

Maybe someone with a gambling problem can read this and seek help. There is a way to overcome it. Try to find the courage to speak. I wish I had had the courage to say something sooner. (JO)

If you or someone close to you has problems with gambling, you can contact a support organization such as the following for help: