Convicted poker player’s son sues AIB for fraud

Lender was once tricked into lending a poker-playing fraudster €865m

Achilleas Kallakis is known as ‘The Don’ on the international poker circuit. Picture: Nick Ansell/PA Wire

AIB Group plc, once tricked into lending a poker-playing fraudster £740m (€865m), is now being accused by his son of fraud and wrongly selling his assets to recover the ill-gotten gains.

The Irish lender was sued in London by Michalis Kallakis, son of Achilleas Kallakis, who is known as ‘The Don’ on the international poker circuit.

AIB deceived Achilleas by unlawfully seizing his properties and selling them at around €350m less than their market value, lawyers for Michalis alleged in court filings prepared for trial.

In 2013 Achilleas was sentenced to 11 years in jail for defrauding the bank.

“Achilleas Kallakis, as a professional fraudster, is particularly vulnerable to being deceived himself,” lawyers for Michalis said in the filing, “as anyone who has seen Michael Caine and Steve Martin in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels will appreciate.” The allegations are “absurd” and “baseless”, according to the bank’s lawyers. 

“It is beyond understanding” that the bank finds itself in the position of a defendant, they said in their filing, “The idea that the victim of the fraud could somehow find itself in the dock — criticised by the fraudster for manner in which it sought to mitigate the losses to which it was exposed by reason of fraud is beyond fiction.” 

Achilleas and his 25-year-old son are co-operating in the case, the bank’s lawyers alleged.

Bloomberg