A SCOTTISH league striker accused of hatching a plot with friends to con a bookmaker had thousands of pounds in £50 notes stuffed in his bedside drawer.
Elgin City striker Kane Hester was found with £2,400 cash when the home he shared with his parents was raided by police.
Hester and three other men are accused of forming a scheme to defraud Bet365 by backing the player to get booked during a BetFred Scottish League Cup match against Hibs.
In a joint statement agreed by the Crown and defence lawyers, it was confirmed that Hester had picked up a yellow card during the first half of the game.
It also confirmed that Findlay Soutar, Calvin Parrott and Brodie Stewart Myres had undertaken a number of financial transactions in the hours before the game.
Fiscal depute Stewart Duncan read the statement to jurors at Dundee Sheriff Court, where the Montrose-based quartet have gone on trial.
Mr Duncan told jurors: "Kane Hester played for Elgin City. He wore the number nine strip. He was booked by the match referee William Collum in the 29th minute.
"He was given a yellow card for reckless, unsporting behaviour. Kane Hester has four bank accounts. On August 28, 2019 a search warrant was granted for the house Kane Hester shared with his parents.
"Officers seized a River Island bag, in the top drawer of a cabinet in the bedroom. It contained £2,400 cash in £50 notes."
Mr Duncan said it was agreed as fact that Myres had paid money into Soutar's account and also into an account belonging to Parrott.
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He said bets worth thousands of pounds had been placed on Hester getting booked and the bookmaker had paid out winnings at odds of 5-1.
He said it was agreed that combination bets – including Hester getting a yellow card – were also placed and won by members of the accused group.
It was agreed that the SFA had stepped in to produce a performance review of Hester during the match after being alerted about suspicious betting patterns on the game.
Hester is alleged to have plotted before the match with three others to place a series of bets on him being booked by the referee.
The charge against Hester, Findlay Soutar, Calvin Parrot and Brodie Stewart Myres alleges that they duped bookmaker Bet365 out of £13,583.
The quartet are alleged to have hatched the plot to bet on Hester being booked almost a week before the Betfred League Cup tie between Elgin City and Hibs on 26 July 2019.
They deny 'forming a fraudulent scheme to obtain money by placing bets that Kane Hester would receive a booking by the referee during the match' at Borough Briggs Stadium in Elgin.
The charge alleges the four men, who all come from Montrose, Angus, carried out the con between July 20 and August 2, 2019 and received £17,333.32 in payments from Bet365. The charge alleges £13,583.32 of it was obtained as unlawful winnings.
The quartet are alleged to have agreed before the group stage match that 'Kane Hester would purposely commit a foul during the course of the match and receive a booking from the referee.
They are alleged to have placed five separate bets on Hester being booked, and he is alleged to have been shown a yellow card for stamping on a Hibs player.
An alternate version of the charge alleges they cheated at gambling by placing five bets on Hester being booked and that he was shown a yellow card for a foul, leading to them falsely obtaining £13,583.32 in winnings.
The court was shown footage of Hester's home being raided and the footballer telling officers he knew what they were there for and that he would take them to the cash.
In the video Hester said: "Do you know what would be easier? I know what you are talking about. There's no point mucking you about.
"I've got the money, it's at home. If I take you home and give you the money, that's what happened.
"I was booked in a game and my friends gave me money for it – £2,500."
Grade One referee William Collum gave evidence of how the match between Elgin City and Hibs had been "scrappy" and confirmed he had booked Hester in the first half.
The referee, who described himself as an Elite Category One referee with Champions League and international experience, said he had got Hester's booking wrong and should actually have shown him a red card.
Mr Collum said: "I recall it being a reckless challenge at the time and I have since been able to view the footage of the incident. I issued the player with a yellow card.
"I described the tackle in the match report as reckless. It is important to put in context that we watch every match back.
"When reviewing this incident – I was caught directly behind the tackle, which is not the best viewing position.
"After reviewing it from the footage I would deem this to be more serious than a yellow card and it would reach the criteria of endangering an opponent and merit a red card.
"It's a more serious tackle than I deemed it to be at the time. There was a discussion [with Hester] at half-time. It was something along the lines of him apologising for the challenge and he didn't mean to catch the player in that manner."
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The trial continues.
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