Posted on: August 1, 2024, 03:18h.
Last updated on: August 1, 2024, 05:16h.
An Aussie postal service worker whose job was to organize the creation of special stamps commemorating the “Australian of the Year” appeared in court this week on insider betting charges.
Dale Tristan Young was in the rare position to know the winner of the prestigious national award in advance, and he relayed this privileged information to an old school friend, gambler James Matthew Dawkins, according to prosecutors.
They allege the pair profited to the tune of A$13,302 (US$8,650) from betting on the winner between 2017 and 2019.
Advance Knowledge
The Australian of the Year Award is as it sounds – a decoration for the Australian national who judges determine has done the country proudest in the preceding 12 months.
Previous recipients have included eminent pioneers in the fields of science, medicine and the arts, as well as outstanding athletes. Also among those honored were the late Alan Bond, a businessman known for his high-profile and often corrupt business dealings, and Paul Hogan, star of the Crocodile Dundee movies.
But the tradition of creating a commemorative stamp of each year’s winner creates a problem in a country where it is legal to bet on awards ceremonies. It means not only is the winner known in advance by a small circle of judges and organizers, but also that a bunch of guys who work for the postal company know about it too.
US regulators generally prohibit wagering on events where the outcome could be known in advance – although New Jersey makes a special exception for the Oscars – but they’re fair game in jurisdictions such as Australia and the UK.
Sportsbooks are incredibly vigilant around these markets for obvious reasons. While the markets remain small in comparison to sports, operators like them because they generate publicity. However, their limited handle also makes suspicious betting patterns easier to spot.
Suspicious Winning Streak
Between 2017, Dawkins placed 48 successful bets spread across several sportsbooks, a winning streak that did not go unnoticed by operators who notified federal crime agencies.
In 2017, Dawkins backed Alan Mackay-Sim, a biomedical scientist specializing in adult stem cell research. In 2018, his money was quantum physicist Michelle Simmons. In 2019, he picked Craig Challen and Richard Harris, who were recognized for their role in rescuing a youth soccer team from the flooded Tham Lang caves in Thailand, a story that made headlines around the world.
On Thursday, Young and Dawkins pleaded guilty to abuse of public office offences at the Dandenong Magistrates Court near Melbourne. They face a maximum 12 months in prison or a fine of about A$16,000 and are both now huge longshots for next year’s Australian of the Year accolade.
