New UK Social Football Betting Bets of Mates

A new UK football betting website called Bets of Mates has been launched.

The online sports betting operation, headquartered in Leeds, targets groups of friends who gamble against each other in a league.

The website, which displays the UK Gambling Commission (an authority approved by the British gambling laws) authorization, was co-founded by John Hughes, Dave "TY" McGurk and Adam Haywood.

Dave “TY” McGruk is a professional football player for York City, and Adam Haywood is a business development manager.

The most interesting figure is John Hughes, a former City Trader for UBS. Hughes worked with convicted "master fraudster" Kweku Adoboli. Adoboli was found guilty this week of the "British History's biggest fraud", a rogue trade operation which cost UBS $2.3 Billion. Adoboli was jailed for seven years.

Hughes was also implicated in the case for allegedly being aware of Adoboli's fraudulent trades. Hughes allegedly did not inform the management about his findings. He began development of the site after he was dismissed from the UBS.

Hughes commented: "Obviously, I've been without a job. I thought the website was a good idea. My best mate is a professional footballer and he's invested in it."

British gambling news asked Hughes whether it was “appropriate for a man so closely linked to Britain's biggest ever fraud loss to be running a betting site.”

Hughes responded "It's not as though it's the first gambling website, it's an appropriate use of my skills, hopefully."