The ACT Ombudsman's office has confirmed it is looking at 13 complaints by punters left out of pocket and who want to take action against the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission. The betting agency, which was registered in the ACT but operated from Melbourne, collapsed in August last year with debts of more than $10 million, including about $327,000 to the ACT Revenue Office. The latest update from liquidators Bent & Cougle states that nearly $3.9 million is still owing to more than 18,000 punters and the ombudsman has been under pressure to investigate from Sports Alive customers who say that Gambling and Racing failed in its duty to regulate the bookmaker.

The authority said yesterday it had no one available to comment but has always insisted that it acted according to its duties in regulating the activities of Sports Alive. Aggrieved punters say the commission failed to ensure Sports Alive maintained segregated bank accounts of betting monies, which is required by legislation.

Despite monthly audits by the regulator, financial documents show Sports Alive was sinking into insolvency for almost three years before its eventual collapse.

Former ombudsman Allan Asher told complainants that they should go to the liquidators, but a spokeswoman for Mr Asher's acting replacement Alison Larkins said yesterday that the ombudsman had agreed to reconsider 12 of the complaints and that another punter had come forward last month.

The ombudsman's office, which has received a total of 34 complaints about the company, refused to disclose any details of its investigation.

''Ombudsman investigations are conducted in private, so we will not comment on these questions,'' the spokeswoman said. ''We are aware of complex legal action being undertaken through the courts by both the commission and the insolvency administrator, Bent and Cougle. We are also aware that a number of examinations against the ex-directors of Sports Alive were conducted in the Supreme Court of Victoria recently.''

Documents have emerged showing Sports Alive had been insolvent since at least 2008, with records showing the company clocked losses of more than $7 million in its last five years of operation.

Joint liquidator Hamish MacKinnon advised creditors in his latest update that he had issued demands for five Sports Alive directors for $14 million, accusing the men of breaching their obligations as directors. He said he was seeking permission from the Victorian Supreme Court to subject the former directors to questioning about their roles in the company's collapse.

The Gambling and Racing Commission also lodged a complaint with Victorian Police over the behaviour of Sports Alive, but the force has advised Mr MacKinnon that no action would be taken until the corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, had completed its separate investigation.