Please help Kym Cavigan take legal action against Sportsbet to recover her stolen life savings.

I'm also asking for help in making important and necessary changes to the betting industry. Requiring betting agencies profiting from problem gambling to better protect victims and ensure the proceeds of crime are returned to innocent victims.

Hello , I'm Kym Cavigan, residing in Riddells Creek, Victoria, Australia. I am a 53 year old single Mum of 2 teenagers and am self employed.

Thankyou for taking the time to read my request.

I am seeking donations from individuals and businesses to commence legal proceedings against the online betting agency called Sportsbet. I will be seeking to recover my life savings, which were stolen from me by Andrew Marshall, an accountant and financial advisor, who gambled the entirety of my money on horse racing and lost it with Sportsbet.

Andrew Marshall was employed by an accounting firm called Langley Mc Kimmie, in Woodend at the time of the theft. Andrew Marshall was my accountant who managed my personal and business tax, a Self Managed Super Fund and a high interest investment account. Unbeknownst to me, Andrew Marshall was a chronic gambling addict, who used the funds stolen from me totalling $871,000 (AUD) to bet and gamble with Sportsbet.

I have attempted to resolve this matter with Sportsbet in order to return my stolen funds however discussions have been outright disappointing and the matter hasn't been resolved. I am now forced to issue legal proceedings.

ABOUT SPORTSBET

Sportsbet provides betting products in Australia predominately online via the Sportsbet app. Those products include local and global horse racing, sports entertainment and other major events. Sportsbet is owned by a public company called Flutter Entertainment P/C- (Flutter). Flutter has various worldwide betting brands including Sportsbet, Sky Betting & Gaming and many others.

In the financial year ending 30th June, 2024, Sportsbet made revenue/ profit of $1.4 billion exclusive in Australia.

RELEVANT INFORMATION

From the outset, it is very important that you are all aware that the legal proceedings I wish to commence against Sportsbet are not what one might call "typical " of the various legal proceedings brought against online gambling companies in the past, which legal proceedings have in the main been unsuccessful.

Fortunately, I have ( and will continue to be ) assisted by Andrew Marshall himself with information regarding his interactions with Sportsbet and the manner in which they exploited him and indeed including how Sportsbet had sufficient information to uncover that he was using stolen money to gamble with, all going to Sportsbet.

I am unaware of any other examples where a gambling addict ( being Andrew Marshall here) has been so willing to assist a victim (me) in pursuit of the funds stolen by the gambling addict whose stolen funds have been used for betting with an online betting agency.

In my view, this makes my matter unique.

In particular, I believe the income verification checks conducted by Sportsbet of Andrew Marshalls' income at various stages of his relationship with Sportbet were seriously lacking.

Income verification is done by a betting agency so that the betting agency can satisfy itself that the source of the funds used by a gambler have come from a legitimate source, especially in relation to repeat gamblers of cumulative sums of millions of dollars, as Andrew Marshall was turning over with Sportsbet.

Under the "know your customer " rule of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws, betting agencies have an obligation to check the source of funds of a customer who is gambling excessive amounts of money in asking where these funds were coming from. Sportsbet failed to do this with Andrew Marshall. Notwithstanding the permission of Andrew Marshall, Sportsbet have refused to hand this file over to my lawyer, making court proceedings the only option.

It will expose the concerning business practices behind Sportbets' VIP programs. I believe that the public should be made aware of their practices and the risks they carry for innocent third parties such as myself.

I note the following matters:

Andrew Marshall was betting millions of dollars with Sportsbet.

Andrew Marshall lost millions of dollars with Sportsbet.

Andrew Marshall was obviously a problem gambler.

Such examples of his excessive gambling are:

For the 6 month period from August 2022 to February 2023, Andrew Marshall gambled with Sportsbet $11,250,296.73 with a net loss to Sportsbet of $969,623.68

and for the 6 month period from August 2021 to February 2022, Andrew Marshall gambled with Sportsbet $8,058,537.91 with a net loss to Sportsbet of $831,1446.71

Even though it was clear Andrew Marshall was a problem gambler and did not have an income stream that would support his betting , he has informed me of the following matters in relation to the income verification checks conducted on him by Sportsbet:

For the purposes of the 2023 EOY income verification process, Sportsbet stated to Andrew Marshall "WE KNOW YOU ARE NOT A PROBLEM GAMBLER "

Sportsbet said to Andrew Marshall " YOU HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT " (with income verification checks )

Sportsbet said to Andrew Marshall "WE JUST NEED TO DO SOME BOX TICKING INTERNALLY "

For the purpose of the 2023 EFY income verification process, Sportsbet did not ask for copies of the necessary and relevant bank statements from of Andrew Marshall to verify the source of the money gambled by him.

For the purpose of the 2023 EFY income verification process Sportsbet did not ask for copies of all of the necessary and relevant bank statements from Andrew Marshall to verify the statements made by him in the income verification paperwork he provided to Sportsbet.

For the purpose of the 2023 EFY income verification process, Sportsbet in Andrew Marshalls; view did not bother to read what bank statements he did provide to Sportsbet.

In some years, upon Sportsbet requesting that Andrew Marshall complete income verification paperwork and upon Andrew Marshall then ignoring that request of Sportsbet, Sportsbet did not then follow up with Andrew Marshall to complete the income verification paperwork. That is, no income verification was conducted at all in some cases.

Sportsbet did not make any real queries at all in relation to the various income verification checks conducted by Sportsbet of Andrew Marshall.

Andrew Marshall has also told me, in order to obtain any leniency down the track in any criminal proceedings brought against him in relation to the significant fraud he had been conducting that he would have immediately self reported himself to the Police, admitting to the fraud he had been perpetrating on victims if ;

*Sportsbet had not taken such a relaxed approach to income verification checks.

* Sportsbet had dug just a bit deeper into his sources of income during the various income verification checks conducted.

*Sportsbet had requested his necessary bank statements.

ANDREW MARSHALL

Andrew Marshall at the time my money was stolen, was a director and an agent of a well known and reputable accounting firm being Langley Mc Kimmie in Woodend. He had the care and conduct of financial and accounting services provided to me. I trusted and respected Andrew Marshall in providing professional services and recommendations to me in regards to my money and future plans. Here I was thinking my money was in safe hands and I felt I was a valued client.

Andrew Marshall pleaded guilty to all charges which were made against him. He was charged and convicted by the County Court of Victoria in December,2025. He was sentenced to jail for 6 years and is now bankrupt.

LOSSES

From 2019 to 2023 a total of $871,000.00 was stolen from my investment account and self managed superannuation fund by Andrew Marshall, purely to fuel his betting addiction with Sportsbet.

THIS AMOUNT IS MY ENTIRE LIFE'S SAVINGS AND SUPERANNUATION.

The position I am in now is that my entire superannuation account and savings account have vanished. All of my money has gone to Sportsbet. I am financially and emotionally devastated. I have worked hard and saved and been financially sensible my whole life, only to find my future has been stolen from me. I don't own a house, have no savings and cannot plan for a future. This experience has deeply changed me as a person, as only other victims will understand this pain and betrayal. But I will not allow Sportsbet to wear me down and destroy me. I am a fighter. Sportsbet does not care what they have done to me or the position they have left me in. They clearly choose profits over people and have ignored my requests to return my money that isn't theirs. The only way to force them to change their treatment of me and other victims is to challenge them through the courts and set a legal precedent for industry change.

JUSTICE AND CHANGE IS NEEDED IMMEDIATELY, SO THIS NEVER OCCURS TO ANYONE ELSE EVER AGAIN.

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

I intend to issue legal proceedings (as plaintiff) against Sportsbet ( as defendant) in the Supreme Court of Australia or alternatively the Federal Court of Australia ( Victorian Registry), to recover the full sum of $871,000.00 stolen from me, plus legal fees already incurred since 2023, interest, compensation and other consequential losses.

I am aware of the personal and financial toll, pressure and impact this case has had on me as I live with this daily and have done so for almost 3 years now with Sportsbet refusing to return my stolen money. I am prepared mentally 100% in moving forward in proceeding with legal action in this matter. As I have been stripped financially, that is why I am asking for public support and funding to take this to the Supreme Court. It is estimated I will be needing $800,00.00 dollars for the initial court proceedings. I do not have those funds as my life's savings are with Sportsbet.

Enough is enough and changes need to be made and enforced to stop this " school yard bullying " as can be clearly seen here in my case.

There is no doubt that Sportsbet will fight tooth and nail to avoid being accountable for its actions. They will likely " play the man or woman and not the ball " and will attack and focus on Andrew Marshall and try to take the spotlight off them, rather than addressing the real issue of Sportsbet appalling business tactics in the way they prey on gambling addicts and profit from that. Andrew Marshall has gone to jail for 6 years for his gambling addiction, yet Sportsbet continues to operate as a betting agency with no conscience , subjecting the population to endless gambling advertising, promoting gambling is fun and easily accessible.

This case is about Sportbets reputation and practices and not about what they have done to me and other people on a personal level. They will make this very hard for me. Their reputation and business practices are at stake. However, I am ready for the fight and I won't give up until justice is served. Please join me and take Sportsbet to the Supreme Court asap.

MEDIA COVERAGE

There has been a significant major media outlet coverage of my matter involving Sportbet, which can be found on the internet, by typing in my name, Kym Cavigan and /or Andrew Marshall.

FURTHER INFORMATION

I am aware there are at least 3 people currently serving time in jail in Australia for monies stolen and then gambled away to gambling agencies, including Andrew Marshall. All of these funds are going to corporate bookmakers or betting agencies. There is a pattern of behaviour that should be obvious to the agencies. These gamblers all have access to other people's money, have agency VIP customer managers working exclusively with these gamblers, who routinely have inadequate income checks completed.

FUNDS REQUIRED AND IN CONCLUSION

I am intent on running a full legal proceeding in the Supreme Court of Victoria or the Federal Court of Australia to run my matter against Sportsbet up to and including the end of a final hearing (trial). There is no doubt that Sportsbet will engage an international law firm with an army of lawyers far greater than what my legal team will be. It wouldn't surprise me if Sportsbet will spend 2 to 3 million in legal fees on their own lawyers. I am not afraid of this and am not intimidated at all by this.

Please join me on this very difficult and challenging journey. It's time to break the pattern of online gambling organisations profiting from stolen funds and make them accountable.

If I am successful in this matter, my hope is that it will open the door for others who like myself have had money stolen by a gambling addict, all gambled to online betting agencies and see they have their money rightfully returned. To stop this happening again in the future to new victims. These betting agencies need to be made accountable and not be allowed to profit from this, with annual profits of billions per year as it is.

Help me get these proceeds of crime rightfully returned to victims. It's time to put wrong right and change this situation in fairness to all. Let's unite and do this for Australia so each and every one of us is protected.

Please support me and be an advocate in sharing my story with as many people as you can and feel welcome to use social media platforms to help inform everyone of the important actions I am undertaking. We as a nation and every person in Australia " power to the people in numbers I say" lets stand up and get my story out there and raise these funds I'm needing to take Sportbet to court.

Each donation made to my " go fund me page " is truly appreciated and so needed.

THANKYOU for all for for your support, encouragement and funding so I can pursue this important mater and make necessary changes that are overdue.