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AMF Says Securities Fraud Probe Pre-Dates Amaya’s PokerStars Acquisition, Baazov Brother Implicated by Regulator

Josh Baazov, David Baazov’s elusive older brother, who is also a suspect in the AMF case against.
AMF, the Canadian financial regulator, yesterday executed search warrants against 13 new individuals suspected of alleged involvement in securities fraudulence Amaya that is concerning stock dating as far back as 2011, well prior to the company purchased PokerStars parent Oldford Group.
Among those is CEO David Baazov’s older brother, Ofer ‘Josh’ Baazov.
Before we’d had time for you even fully digest the news headlines that David Baazov was facing five criminal counts of insider trading, the AMF circulated its second bombshell regarding the time.
The regulator alleges that the 13 named individuals ‘traded while in possession of privileged information, or they leaked privileged details about prospective mergers and acquisitions involving Amaya Inc.
‘In all,’ in all, it continued, ‘they are purported to have realized a profit of close to CA$1.5 million ($1.13 million) between 2011 and 2016.’
This implies that the scope of the investigation predates the PokerStars acquisition and that AMF is probing previous instances of suspected insider trading in Amaya’s stock.
Amaya first went public on the TSX Venture Exchange in July, 2010, at $1 a share. Last year, it purchased both Chartwell Technology and Cryptologic, even though the latter deal was maybe not finalized until early 2012.
Josh Baazov’s Questionable Past
In 1993, at the age of 24, Ofer aka Josh Baazov served 3 months in prison for four counts of cocaine control. A long period later on, a court that is federal Ohio ruled that his telemarketing business had scammed senior residents into the Midwest away from thousands and thousands of dollars.
Baazov reportedly lured them to just take out subscriptions that are expensive return for valuable gifts, except those gifts were never delivered, according to the court. The judge ordered Josh to pay $777,000 in restitutions to his victims at that point.
But Canada’s Globe and Mail news site, which has covered the AMF investigation assiduously since the regulator first raided Amaya’s offices in 2014, recently discovered that Josh Baazov had not paid one cent towards the compensation order december.
Links to Amaya
Amaya has rejected that Josh Baazov, whose brushes that are previous what the law states would preclude him from obtaining a video gaming license himself, has ever been an employee or a shareholder associated with the company.
But he was once described by a business that is former of both Baazovs, Albert Jan, as a ‘founder’ of the company, together with his brother David. Meanwhile, the Globe and Mail found instances that are numerous which Josh Baazov has represented Amaya’s interests in various capabilities, heading back as far as 2012.
Additionally named by the AMF is Craig Levett, a business that is longstanding of both Josh and David’s, who had been photographed with Josh Baazov on a holiday to your Dominican Republic in 2012 to advertise Amaya’s online casino products to casino officials.
Amaya is standing behind its CEO, who says he will ‘vigorously contest’ the charges against him.
Philippines Casino Executive Charged with Money Laundering in Nyc Fed Reserve Bank Cyber Heist
Philippines casino scandal: Kim Wong, president associated with the Eastern that is philippines-based Hawaii, is charged with money laundering vast amounts taken in the Fed Bank cyber heist. (Image: newsinfo.inquirer.net)
A top-ranking Philippines casino administrator is facing money laundering charges for his alleged part in February’s $80 million cyber heist regarding the Federal Reserve Bank of the latest York.
On February 5, computer hackers flooded the Fed with demands to transfer almost $1 billion from a merchant account used by the Bangladeshi Central Bank for international settlements into various reports round the globe.
Only four of the requests were actually processed before the scheme had been recognized, plus some $81 million had been transferred into accounts at Filipino bank RCBC.
From there, $46 million was laundered through the minimally regulated Philippines casino industry, specifically via Bloomberry Resorts’ Solaire Resort and Casino in Manila, and also the Eastern Hawaii Casino and Resort in the Cagayan Economic Zone.
Top Executives Implicated
This week, Filipino authorities filed criminal complaints against Eastern Hawaii Casino President Kim Wong, also Chinese junket operator Weikang Xu. Wong is accused of withdrawing around $21.6 million of the funds from his personal and accounts that are corporate.
Meanwhile, Xu apparently received $30 million from a associated with RCBC records, of which he passed $29 million to Solaire.
Wong, who’s comprehended to be ‘abroad,’ has said that he is ‘ready and willing’ to the Philippines to offer their testimony.
‘It is our impression that some very effective folks are afraid of what our customer will disclose, that is why a case that is premature filed against him,’ Wong’s lawyer Victor Fernandez said this week. ‘ They probably think that filing the instance will deter our client from coming house and testifying before the Senate. These are typically incorrect,’ he stated.
But Philippines Senator Sergio Osmeña III believes that Wong is the ‘missing link’ in case.
‘There is an orchestrator here, a mastermind, and right now, it looks like it’s Kim Wong,’ Osmeña told reporters. ‘But we must offer him a chance and back let him come from his journey abroad to testify ahead of the committee.
‘He’s a big player in this,’ the senator added.
Calls for Reform
Additionally under scrutiny is RCBC manager Maia Santos-Deguito, who allegedly failed to stop payments from the New York bank, as well as in fact proceeded to accept the fund transfer to casinos, despite the stop payments notice from the Federal Reserve. Deguito claims that Wong really asked her to open the RCBC accounts through which the amount of money passed, using names that are fictitious.
She also reported although she later retracted this statement at a hearing of the Philippines Senate that she processed the transactions because her family had been threatened.
The scandal has increased calls for reforms to the country’s banking and casino companies, which, unlike many elsewhere, are under little obligation to report suspicious patterns, or transactions over a certain threshold, in the title of consumer privacy.
New Hampshire Gambling Bill Dead for 2016, State Opts alternatively to invest in War on Drugs
Once a famed horse racetrack, one state lawmaker was trying to bring legal brand New Hampshire gambling towards the Rockingham Park site, nevertheless the bill failed this week. (Image: Samantha Goresh/Concord Monitor)
New Hampshire gambling proponents have actually once again destroyed their fight to create commercial casino-style gambling to the ‘Live Free or Die’ state. Though brand New Hampshire has state lottery and allows charitable games of chance, it’s certainly one of simply seven states that doesn’t offer commercial, tribal, or racetrack gambling to residents.
On Thursday, the state Senate voted 13-11 to kill Sen. Lou D’Allesandro’s (D-District 20) attempt that is latest to legalize video lottery machines and table gaming. SB 551 would have licensed only 1 single gambling location in the complete state, but a lot of D’Allesandro’s constituents nevertheless could not get on board.
A longtime advocate of legalizing New Hampshire gambling, D’Allesandro might experienced enough.
‘This is a work we have actually put my heart and soul into for a long time,’ the lawmaker told the Concord Monitor newspaper. ‘I’m not going doing this too numerous more times.’
Rockingham’s Storied Past
D’Allesandro has introduced gambling bills for many consecutive years, every one of which have actually failed to gain the support that is necessary passage.
SB 551 sought to return gambling to the Rockingham Park horse racetrack in Salem. First built in 1906, Rockingham has a history that is rich includes hosting the famed thoroughbred Seabiscuit though he never won a race at the website.
Like a lot of other tracks across the nation, Rockingham fell on tough times following the 2008 recession that is economic horse race ceased in 2009. Today, the track that is once famed races and hosts poker tournaments seven days a week, with proceeds benefiting local charities.
Charitable games are of course never as attractive to seasoned players as a large percentage associated with buy-in would go to charity as opposed to the pot.
Supporters of allowing Rockingham to allow non-charitable tables and video lottery games argue amending the law that is current generate $100 million yearly in new revenues. Rockingham is definitely operating out of just what appears become the perfect locale to attract a considerable number of patrons as the track is just 30 miles north of Boston and 25 miles south of Manchester, New Hampshire’s largest town.
Rockingham now faces a fate all too common in today’s horse racing industry: closure.
‘I remember when 25,000 people a day would come,’ d’allesandro said. ‘We all want to spend money but no one wants to raise it.’
War on Drugs
While lawmakers in brand New Hampshire did not budge on gambling, they did tackle a subject that is certainly much more dire. The Senate voted unanimously on Thursday to spend $5.1 million to fight the ongoing epidemic that is opioid.
This new Hampshire Department of wellness and Human Services will collect $4.5 million to be properly used either to fund housing that is sober or increase spending on Governor Maggie Hassan’s (D) Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery. The staying $500,000 and modification is used to endow a recovery initiative that is peer-to-peer.
Warranted or not, the stigmas that can come with commercialized casinos might have impacted the vote that is close bringing legalized gambling to New Hampshire.
Online Gambling Win Rate Creates False Sense of Real Money Potential at Land-Based Casinos
After significantly less than a dozen spins, we scored a 16,375 win on a 750 credit wager, maybe a little bit of proof that on line gambling win prices are far higher than real slots. (Image: hollywoodcasin.com)
Free online gambling slots and other various formats come with much better odds than you’ll find in a brick-and-mortar casino that is actual. That willn’t come as a surprise, as gambling organizations design the Internet offerings to entice gamblers that are new their real money floors.
It seems harmless sufficient to provide those playing for fun more possibilities of striking the jackpot, but in fact the better it’s likely being accused of leading to a rise in gambling addiction.
‘When it involves gambling, the easier a game is to understand the worse chances usually are,’ the Wizard of Odds website states. With slots, all of the player must do is merely press a key, and that tremendous ease and fast rate of play means ‘there is no quicker option to lose your money.’
While slots in a physical casino come with the worst chances within the entire building, at online fun money casinos they’re slightly better and might create a false feeling of genuine winning.
‘Social gaming raises concerns because there is still a risk of utilizing it compulsively free king of the nile deluxe slots,’ nationwide Council on Problem Gambling Executive Director Keith Whyte told the Boston Globe this week. ‘It’s the action of gambling that is addicting, not the awards.’
Plainridge’s Plain Jane
The first casino that is commercial in Massachusetts, the Plainridge Park Casino slot parlor opened its doorways last June. The facility, which accompanies the Plainridge harness-racing horse track, offers over 1,200 slots.
But, through its parent company Penn National Gaming, Plainridge now allows players across the country to play for fun on its Hollywood Casino online site. Experts have quickly pointed to the site’s superior chances compared to exactly what players will find on the real Plainridge flooring.
‘then that’s misleading,’ New York University professor and gambling addiction author Natasha Schull said if the games look the same and sound the same, but the payback of one is much lower.
Problem addiction and gambling is without question a stigma in america and something worthy of a wider conversation. As gambling in the country has expanded throughout the decade that is last campaigns to curtail gaming dependency have increased, nevertheless the shaming of addicts lingers.
Just this New Jersey’s Asbury Park Press noticed that the Tropicana Atlantic City website called problem gamblers degenerates week.
‘Bet with your face, perhaps not over it. You know is a degenerate gambler and wants help, call 1-800-Gambler.’
Tropicana has since omitted the term.
Not Our Problem
Earlier this month, Casino.org reported regarding the proven fact that while March marks Problem Gambling Awareness Month, Plainridge still had not implemented its guaranteed issue program that is gambling.
In conformity to its certification by Massachusetts, Plainridge must adopt a responsible strategy to curb reliant gamblers. Penn National submitted a ‘play management’ program that may enable players setting limits and time restrictions, but the system has still not been incorporated into the slot machines.
Plainridge is underperforming in its year that is first of. The venue was anticipated to come up with $300-500 million in taxation income this 12 months, but is on rate to gather under $200 million.