Father of poker player shot over bad debts

Father of poker player shot over bad debts

Thursday, 17 June 2010

A Scottish court has heard how the father of a poker player with large gambling debts was shot in the head after his son couldn't repay the money he owed.

Tony Demarco was shot while standing outside the Gala Casino in Edinburgh in June 2008. Amazingly, he survived the shooting, but the motive for the attack had remained unclear until this week's trial. The court heard how his son, Antony, had taken out a series of loans to cover his online poker losses. The hitmen struck when Demarco couldn't pay back the money owed.


Demarco Junior admitted ripping off two companies to the tune of £1m in an attempt to get the money to pay off the loan sharks. RBS called in the police after finding out that the father of two had abused financial contacts to make 23 fraudulent loan applications to Hitachi and Lombard. Joe Mooney, the 37-year-old's solicitor told the court, “Antony knew it was inevitable that he would be caught, but if his father was not shot he would never have had to become involved in these activities to pay back the money lenders”.


Demarco junior pleaded guilty to fraud and was remanded in custody until sentencing. The gang who carried out the attack, Imran Sakur, Jamie Robertson, Craig Kelbie and Francis McGlone, received jail terms totalling 43 years in February.



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