There was a time when Achilleas Kallakis was considered one of the most stoic poker pros the UK had ever seen. He faced off with intimidating opponents like WSOP bracelet record holder Phil Hellmuth without batting an eyelash and took down a $1 million prize in a US tournament like it was a quarter game. An affluent businessman with Greek origins, authorities later found out that, with the help of Alexander Williams, he was sustaining his wealth by defrauding an UK banks. Now, a judge has ordered the poker playing swindler to repay £3.25 million of his debts, or finish out the 7 years remaining on his prison sentence.
Although £3.25 million is an exorbitant amount of cash to most folks, it’s is a miniscule fraction of the amount Kallakis used forged documents to obtain from the Allied Irish Bank and the Bank of Scotland over the last decade. The illegitimate duo spent a total of 6 years coercing the two financial institutions to loan Kallakis millions of pounds, based on the falsified credentials forged by Williams. With loan after loan, Kallakis purchased a total of 16 high-profile properties between 2003 and 2008.
The UK poker player’s outrageous spending drew the attention of many, and even got him placed on Britain’s Sunday Times Rich List at one point, which estimated his personal fortune at £250 million. But he wasn’t just using the loans to purchase landmark properties like the London headquarters of the Daily Telegraph, but to fund his grandiose lifestyle. From his own yacht and private jet, to lavish artwork and full-time chauffer service, Achilleas Kallakis was living in the lap of luxury… right up until the market for commercial property plummeted and Allied Irish Bank started looking more closely at the documents they had been supplied by the swindler and his counterfeiting cohort.
The UK poker pro was charged in March of 2010 by the British Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for defrauding the financial institutions out of £750 million. In January of 2013, he was found guilty. “Achilleas Kallakis, I regard you as the prime mover in this fraud,” said Judge Andrew Goymer during the trial. “You had the experience of the property market and you also had the accumulated wealth. Alexander Williams, you had a lesser role but by no means an insignificant one. You were involved in the production and control of the documents that allowed it.”
Kallakis was sentenced to 7 years in prison for his impudent crimes, while Alexander Williams received a sentence of 5 years for his involvement.
In the meantime, Allied Irish Bank and the Bank of Scotland took the initiative to repossess the properties Kallikas purchased with the fraudulently obtained loans, recouping a portion of their losses in the process. However, there is still the matter of £61 million in unrecovered debts. In an effort to regain just a fraction of those exorbitant losses, a judge has now agreed to reduce the affluent poker player’s sentence if he can come up with £3.25 million in restitution. Otherwise, Achilleas Kallakis will have to finish out the remainder of his sentence behind bars.