| | |  | Last Updated: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 |  | | | Ex-Trader’s Online Gambling Success
- Thursday, 2 Feb 2006
The trader responsible for the demise of Barings Bank has begun a new venture in online gambling. Nick Leeson first began gambling on online poker for fun but more recently his poker skills have earned him $25,000 in one game and paved the way for a new occupation as a professional online poker player. Today Leeson credits his gambling career with helping him to learn some valuable lessons in caution and restraint.
The online gambling star made headlines in the mid nineties for the role he played in the crash of Barings Bank. The oldest merchant bank in the UK, Barings Bank was sold to Dutch banking group ING for a mere one pound sterling after it collapsed. Leeson’s actions were indisputably the main reason for the bank’s demise. While based in Singapore as an investment operations officer, he began gambling thousands of dollars on interest rate movements. After embezzling over $1.3 billion American dollars, his gambling activities were discovered by Barings Bank executives. Leeson attempted to flee but was apprehended by police and subsequently served a six and a half year prison sentence for his crimes.
However in a bizarre twist of fate, Leeson’s recent gambling habits were first spotted at online casino site Celebpoker where he appeared as a professional poker player. According to insiders, Leeson was first introduced to online gambling as a hobby by ex-football star Vinnie Jones. The game of poker has now become his main source of income. Yet despite Leeson’s success, he insists he won’t be repeating his mistakes of the past and that risking large sums on online poker games just isn’t his style. | |
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