Stewards of Racing Victoria have cleared Cleary of giving false evidence to investigators probing the Stephen Allanson affair. However, the bookmaker might still face punishment for failing to record bets under the correct name. The case has now been referred to the Bookmakers and Bookmakers’ Clerks Registration Committee.
Cleary was investigated for laying 692 bets placed by the former RVL CEO Stepehn Allanson, operating under the alias of Jack Hindon, from October 2003 to November 2007. Cleary originally told investigators that he had taken only 5 bets from Allanson but later argued that he was referring only to bets placed during last year’s spring carnival.
Though stewards felt Cleary’s revised claims were debateable, they did not feel a prosecution would be in the public or racing’s interest because a tribunal would be likely to accept the bookmaker’s version of events. The acting chief steward for Racing Victoria, Terry Bailey, said: “In the stewards’ view, any prosecution of Cleary would be made even more difficult by the fact that the ambiguity in the interview cannot be attributed to the fault of Cleary.”
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