Alastair Campbell is facing losses running into hundreds of thousands of pounds following the collapse of a football betting syndicate run by his son, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Tony Blair‘s former spin chief is understood to be among those alleged to have lost a total of more than £5 million from Rory Campbell’s venture, with some out-of-pocket investors now threatening to go to the police.
The row has dragged in Charlie Falconer, Mr Blair’s Lord Chancellor and former flatmate, who held meetings with syndicate members shortly before Christmas to ‘calm tempers’ after they were told that they would not be able to recoup their losses.
The syndicate bet on the Premier League, the German Bundesliga, Italy‘s Serie A and Spain‘s La Liga using mathematical models intended to give it an edge over the rest of the betting market by assessing the effect of injuries, how well players link up and factors such as the weather.
Sources said that Rory, 37, told investors in April that ‘everyone will get paid in the summer’ and ‘there is absolutely no hole’ in the fund, before in June promising again that they would be paid back in full by the end of July.
But it is claimed that on July 18 he warned they might receive ‘in the region of 50%-65%’ of their investment.
Two weeks ago, his lawyers are said to have informed them that the venture had collapsed because bookmakers in Asia had failed to pay their debts.
Last night, a representative for Rory Campbell said: ‘You appear to have been given an incomplete and in several respects inaccurate account of a highly complex set of issues, which are currently the subject of what we had understood to be confidential negotiations intended to seek a resolution between the various parties.
Alastair Campbell’s son Rory’s (pictured) football betting syndicate has gone bust, with losses of up to £5million
Alastair Campbell and his partner Fiona Millar (pictured) are believed to have invested nearly £300,000 in the business
‘It is a matter of concern and very disappointing to learn from you that these confidences have been broken. Given the confidential nature of the discussions, we are not at liberty to make any further comment at this stage.’
More than 50 people are understood to have placed between £10,000 and £500,000 each in the syndicate over the past five years, with Alastair Campbell and his partner Fiona Millar believed to have invested nearly £300,000.
Around 20 of the investors have compiled a dossier of evidence to pass to the police, including contracts setting out how the syndicate would run, bank statements, emails stating that the fund was profitable and spreadsheets detailing how much it was supposedly making.
The sources said that Lord Falconer met twice with investors to try and negotiate a financial settlement on behalf of the Campbell family, most recently in early December.
The meetings have been described by sources as ‘long and bruising’. This newspaper has seen correspondence between Rory and one investor who tried to withdraw his money from the syndicate last year after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.
The investor wrote in November 2023: ‘I am now reaching the end of my tether and the next step will be for me to start looking at legal options to recover what you owe me.
‘I really don’t want to do that but when you continually tell me the money is coming shortly (since July) and December is approaching you can understand why I think you may not be good for it.’
Sources said that Lord Falconer (pictured) met twice with investors to try and negotiate a financial settlement on behalf of the Campbell family
The investor added: ‘Are you going to send some money soon or are you just hoping I die before you need to pay up?’
Rory replied: ‘Absolutely not and yes very, very soon. All of it.’
A year later, the investor says he is still to receive the £160,000 he’s owed.
Another syndicate member, said to be facing losses of more than £150,000, told the MoS: ‘We are all absolutely furious.
‘Rory told us that at no time could he lose more than 5 per cent of the total betting fund to a single bookmaker and that his job was to manage that risk.
‘Then suddenly all the money has just disappeared. He has provided absolutely zero evidence of where it has gone and we want a proper explanation of where all the millions of pounds have gone.’
Another investor said: ‘We will be very lucky to get 15 per cent of our losses back after legal and professional costs.
‘By Rory’s own figures over £5 million is owed. He has at least finally admitted there is a massive financial black hole, which he denied for a long time, but this has left a lot of people in serious financial trouble as many had invested a decent proportion of their overall wealth in something Rory described as ‘massively low risk’.’
Alastair with his son Rory (right) and Calum Campbell (centre) at the London Stadium
In a 2018 interview Rory, who read Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford, said he spent ‘the majority of time’ at university ‘playing poker and watching football’.
After graduating, he advised football clubs on ‘tactical insights’.
Alastair Campbell, 67, is enjoying a lucrative second career as co-host of The Rest Is Politics podcast with former Tory minister Rory Stewart, with his personal income topping an estimated £100,000 a month.
Alastair Campbell and Lord Falconer both declined to comment.