A man claims a Police officer took more than $200 from his wallet in response to a complaint over a $20 gambling win.

Makai Dickerson said he was playing crown and anchor at Cup Match last Friday afternoon when he was challenged over his $20 winnings by an Asian man who claimed they were his.

Mr. Dickerson, 24, from Somerset, said he walked away after picking up the money. However, he was later approached by two Police officers who told him they had received a complaint he had taken someone's winnings.

"I informed them that I had not, and people around the table told them I had been playing with my own money," he said. But he was approached later that afternoon by around three Police officers together with the complainant and some other Asian men.

One officer held his hands behind his back, he said, while another removed a sum of $200-plus from his pocket.

"He went like he was searching me and took it out of my pockets and handed it to the Asian man," he claimed. "It was a $20 dispute but they took took $200 out of my pocket."

Mr. Dickerson said that when he visited the Police station at Cup Match together with a neighbour who works in the Police Reserves, officers said they did not recognise his description of the uniformed officer who took his money. They also told him they did not have a complaint form for him to fill out.

"I'm upset about it. I feel like I was attacked by a legal gang," said Mr. Dickerson.

He said he had approached the Human Rights Commission who had advised him to take his complaint to Hamilton Police Station, but he was unwilling to do this.

"I don't trust them to come at me right," he explained.

A Police spokesman said last night that Mr. Dickerson's allegations are being looked into but that he should visit a Police station to make a formal report about the matter.