LONDON //The "spot-fixing" scandal involving Pakistan's international cricketers has apparently led to the suicide of a wealthy London businessman. It was revealed yesterday that David Le Cluse, the chairman of a football club owned by the alleged fixer behind the scam, had shot himself in a garage near his south London home on Saturday.
The football club, Croydon Athletic, is being investigated by police and tax officials after Mazhar Majeed, the owner, boasted to undercover reporters that he used the club to launder money from the cricket-betting scam. Mr Majeed, who is also being investigated for money laundering and for attempting to defraud bookmakers, was secretly filmed in August as he accepted £150,000 (Dh872,000) in cash from reporters from the newspaper News of the World.
In return, Mr Majeed promised that Pakistani bowlers would default with "no-balls" at specific times during a Test match between England and Pakistan. The no-balls were duly delivered, potentially making thousands of dollars for gamblers on the spot betting market - where punters wager on single events - in the Subcontinent and Far East. Two Pakistani bowlers, Mohammad Aamir and Mohammad Asif, were subsequently suspended from the tour and sent home, along with captain Salman Butt, a friend of Mr Majeed who acted as a commercial agent for several of the players.
Le Cluse, 44, who owned a pest extermination company and was married with two children, was said to have been devastated when Croydon Athletic became embroiled in the scandal. Tim O'Shea, who resigned as manager of the club when the scandal broke, told The Times: "He was very upset at the allegations and the club getting involved. It probably hit him harder than most because of his personal friendship with Majeed.
"He wanted nothing more than for the club to succeed and he was probably upset and affected by it more than anybody else." Le Cluse was brought in to run the club by Mr Majeed last November after Dean Fisher, the previous chairman, was arrested and charged with defrauding his employers. Fisher was jailed for three years in July. After Mr Majeed's arrest, his assets were frozen, leaving Croydon Athletic, who play in the Ryman League, unable to pay staff and sending them to the brink of extinction. All but one of the players, along with Mr O'Shea, left the club.
Le Cluse had been devising a plan that would see the club through to the end of the season and, two weeks ago, Mr Majeed issued a £10,000 bond to the league, guaranteeing that the team would complete its remaining league fixtures. On Saturday, however, Le Cluse seems to have taken a shotgun to the garage and killed himself. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "A 44-year-old man suffered what is believed to have been a gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
"The circumstances of his death are being treated as unexplained. Inquiries are ongoing."
dsapsted@thenational.ae
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Tales of Yusuf Tadros
Adel Esmat (translated by Mandy McClure)
Hoopoe
RESULT
Arsenal 0 Chelsea 3
Chelsea: Willian (40'), Batshuayi (42', 49')
Young women have more “financial grit”, but fall behind on investing
In an October survey of young adults aged 16 to 25, Charles Schwab found young women are more driven to reach financial independence than young men (67 per cent versus. 58 per cent). They are more likely to take on extra work to make ends meet and see more value than men in creating a plan to achieve their financial goals. Yet, despite all these good ‘first’ measures, they are investing and saving less than young men – falling early into the financial gender gap.
While the women surveyed report spending 36 per cent less than men, they have far less savings than men ($1,267 versus $2,000) – a nearly 60 per cent difference.
In addition, twice as many young men as women say they would invest spare cash, and almost twice as many young men as women report having investment accounts (though most young adults do not invest at all).
“Despite their good intentions, young women start to fall behind their male counterparts in savings and investing early on in life,” said Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, senior vice president, Charles Schwab. “They start off showing a strong financial planning mindset, but there is still room for further education when it comes to managing their day-to-day finances.”
Ms Schwab-Pomerantz says parents should be conveying the same messages to boys and girls about money, but should tailor those conversations based on the individual and gender.
"Our study shows that while boys are spending more than girls, they also are saving more. Have open and honest conversations with your daughters about the wage and savings gap," she said. "Teach kids about the importance of investing – especially girls, who as we see in this study, aren’t investing as much. Part of being financially prepared is learning to make the most of your money, and that means investing early and consistently."
23-man shortlist for next six Hall of Fame inductees
Tony Adams, David Beckham, Dennis Bergkamp, Sol Campbell, Eric Cantona, Andrew Cole, Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba, Les Ferdinand, Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, Roy Keane, Frank Lampard, Matt Le Tissier, Michael Owen, Peter Schmeichel, Paul Scholes, John Terry, Robin van Persie, Nemanja Vidic, Patrick Viera, Ian Wright.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
List of officials:
Referees: Chris Broad, David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Ranjan Madugalle and Richie Richardson.
Umpires: Aleem Dar, Kumara Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker, Michael Gough, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson.
Who is Allegra Stratton?
- Previously worked at The Guardian, BBC’s Newsnight programme and ITV News
- Took up a public relations role for Chancellor Rishi Sunak in April 2020
- In October 2020 she was hired to lead No 10’s planned daily televised press briefings
- The idea was later scrapped and she was appointed spokeswoman for Cop26
- Ms Stratton, 41, is married to James Forsyth, the political editor of The Spectator
- She has strong connections to the Conservative establishment
- Mr Sunak served as best man at her 2011 wedding to Mr Forsyth
