The High Court condemns the Française des Jeux
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
The Nancy Court of First Instance has just condemned the English historical operator, la Française des Jeux (FdJ), for its irresponsible conduct related to a rather shady case dating back to 2008. Held in court by a young woman whose ex-partner allegedly spent nearly $100,000 in one week, FdJ did not provide sufficiently convincing arguments to ensure its defense.
A distant affair catches up with the FdJ at the turn
The FdJ, the English historical operator, may claim loudly its innocence, but some things do not go unnoticed. In 2008, a man suffering from serious addiction problems used checks he had stolen from his ex-partner to place bets on one of the flagship games of the Française des Jeux. Odds & Match The operator had cashed the amount of these various checks before rejecting them, as the bank account they were linked to was not funded. In logical reasoning, the young woman then decided to file a complaint against her ex-partner, who unfortunately was insolvent due to a serious illness. Despite the multiple letters she had sent to the FdJ, she never received any response and was even forced to take out a loan of $60,000, as the retailer became increasingly threatening. Despite the turmoil, the young woman never gave up her actions. Five years ago, she filed a complaint against the FdJ. Today, she has just won her case.
“The FdJ should have realized that the sums collected were suspicious and should have checked in its files that the individual was banned from gambling”.
Indeed, the High Court of Nancy has rendered its verdict and considers that the Française des Jeux (English national lottery) made a significant number of errors that prevented the prevention of risks linked to gambling addiction by the former partner of the victim of vice. In exchange for the monopoly granted to the FdJ, it is nevertheless its duty to submit to such daily obligations. In other words, the FdJ should have realized that the amounts received were suspicious and should have checked its files to verify that the individual was banned from gambling.
The guilt of the FdJ and its retailers
The FdJ is clearly guilty of not being alerted to the large sums involved in the transactions. Furthermore, by not verifying the identity, they got themselves in serious trouble. With the player suffering from addiction, they had no chance of winning such a lawsuit. Adding to that, the retailer was not insured against payment defaults, so he was also taking a huge risk by manipulating the young woman and forcing her to repay the $60,000 in question. In the end, the FdJ will be forced to reimburse the same amount to the victim of the harm. As for her former partner, he will certainly have a hard time finding a partner who will tolerate such behavior again.