{"id":40655,"date":"2016-10-06T15:00:41","date_gmt":"2016-10-06T22:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=40655"},"modified":"2016-10-06T15:34:34","modified_gmt":"2016-10-06T22:34:34","slug":"quebec-financial-regulator-critical-of-david-baazov","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-financial-regulator-critical-of-david-baazov\/","title":{"rendered":"Quebec Financial Regulator Critical of David Baazov Tribunal Non-Presence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ex-Amaya chief David Baazov\u2019s<\/a> absence on the final day of a hearing in Montreal on Wednesday spoke volumes, according to the Quebec financial regulator, AMF<\/a>. The Canadian province’s equivalent of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stateside has charged him with securities fraud. This was an administrative hearing, which Baazov was not legally required to attend.<\/p>\n

\"david-baazov-daniel-negreanu-amf-hearing-no-show\"
Former Amaya CEO David Baazov, left, (seen here with PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu) was taken to task for not showing up at his own AMF hearing. (Image: horizonweekend.ca)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But AMF lawyer Philippe Levasseur asked why the former online gaming CEO had failed to testify at the hearing if he were as innocent as he claims.<\/p>\n

“Where is David Baazov?” demanded Levasseur rhetorically. “The only person who could have contradicted\u00a0this wasn’t here.”<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Baazov, along with two others, are charged by the Quebec financial regulator with five counts of securities fraud, including \u201caiding with trades while in possession of privileged information, influencing or attempting to influence the market price of the securities of Amaya Inc, and communicating privileged information.\u201d<\/p>\n

Circumstantial Evidence<\/h2>\n

Thirteen others, including Baazov\u2019s brother Josh, are accused of profiting from privileged information. Allegedly disseminated by Baazov, the AMF says that the Baazov brother received kickbacks for these favors.<\/p>\n

The wider group is alleged to have made around $1.5 million from trading stocks in the run up to at least six takeover deals, going back to Amaya\u2019s acquisition of Cryptologic in 2012. The regulator has ordered the bank and trading accounts of the\u00a0thirteen individuals to be frozen.<\/p>\n

During an earlier stage in the hearing, Baazov\u2019s lawyer, Sophie Melchers, was able to get AMF agent Xavier Saint-Pierre to admit that all evidence against her client was circumstantial. She said the AMF case was filled with \u201comission and flaws\u201d and based on \u201cselective information.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>The Case of the\u00a0Missing Cellphone<\/h2>\n

While the AMF has phone records showing that certain accused individuals telephoned one another at key times, it doesn\u2019t know exactly what was said on those phone calls. The regulator raided Amaya\u2019s offices back in December 2014, confiscating the computers of several staff members, including Baazov’s. But only partial e-mail messages survived. It also failed to seize the CEO’s cellphone, which he is alleged to have quickly replaced.<\/p>\n

Levasseur insists that almost all Canadian insider trading cases involve circumstantial evidence, because the financial authorities do not have the power to tap suspects\u2019 phones. \u201cDirect proof just doesn\u2019t happen,\u201d he said.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The AMF has cited an email, forwarded by Baazov to his brother Josh from Amaya adviser Canaccord, which refers to Amaya\u2019s imminent takeover attempt of Cryptologic. In it, he asks Josh for \u201csupport,\u201d which the Quebec financial authority believes is a coded message exhorting Josh and others to buy Amaya stock. At the very least, it is a violation of the company\u2019s corporate disclosure policies.<\/p>\n

Baazov will face criminal charges\u00a0before the Quebec Court on an as-yet-to-be-determined date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ex-Amaya chief David Baazov\u2019s absence on the final day of a hearing in Montreal on Wednesday spoke volumes, according to the Quebec financial regulator, AMF. The Canadian province’s equivalent of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stateside has charged him with securities fraud. This was an administrative hearing, which Baazov was not legally required to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":40668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,21,10,19],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nQuebec Financial Regulator Critical of David Baazov<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ex-Amaya chief David Baazov was conspicuous by his absence at Quebec regulator's securities fraud tribunal, according to the AMF.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Quebec Financial Regulator Critical of David Baazov\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ex-Amaya chief David Baazov was conspicuous by his absence at Quebec regulator's securities fraud tribunal, according to the AMF.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-financial-regulator-critical-of-david-baazov\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-10-06T22:00:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-10-06T22:34:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/David-Baazov-Daniel-Negreanu-AMF-hearing-no-show.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-financial-regulator-critical-of-david-baazov\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-financial-regulator-critical-of-david-baazov\/\",\"name\":\"Quebec Financial Regulator Critical of David Baazov\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-financial-regulator-critical-of-david-baazov\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-financial-regulator-critical-of-david-baazov\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/David-Baazov-Daniel-Negreanu-AMF-hearing-no-show.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-10-06T22:00:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-10-06T22:34:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Ex-Amaya chief David Baazov was conspicuous by his absence at Quebec regulator's securities fraud tribunal, according to the AMF.\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-financial-regulator-critical-of-david-baazov\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-financial-regulator-critical-of-david-baazov\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/quebec-financial-regulator-critical-of-david-baazov\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/David-Baazov-Daniel-Negreanu-AMF-hearing-no-show.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/David-Baazov-Daniel-Negreanu-AMF-hearing-no-show.jpg\",\"width\":1800,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"Former Amaya CEO David Baazov, left, (seen here with PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu) was taken to task for not showing up at his own AMF hearing. 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