{"id":59113,"date":"2017-09-21T10:50:44","date_gmt":"2017-09-21T17:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=59113"},"modified":"2017-09-21T17:06:50","modified_gmt":"2017-09-22T00:06:50","slug":"david-baazovs-amaya-shareholder-status-questioned-by-quebecs-amf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/david-baazovs-amaya-shareholder-status-questioned-by-quebecs-amf\/","title":{"rendered":"Quebec Regulator AMF Questions David Baazov’s Status as Amaya Shareholder as Trial Date Nears"},"content":{"rendered":"

Was ex-Amaya CEO David Baazov<\/a> really the PokerStars parent’s major shareholder? An extraordinary claim made in court documents filed by the Canadian securities regulator AMF last week alleges that the former chief actually served as a figurehead, concealing the real controlling shareholders of the company, which AMF claims were his brother Ofer \u201cJosh\u201d Baazov and longstanding business partner Craig Levett.<\/p>\n

\"David
Quebec regulator AMF says that ex-Amaya CEO David Baazov (left) was really just a stand-in for Craig Levett (white shirt) and his brother Josh (right), seen here when they met with casino representatives in the Dominican Republic back in 2012. (Image: Casino.org composite)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Baazov (as in David) is due to stand trial in November on five counts of securities fraud related to the alleged sharing of sensitive information prior to several of Amaya\u2019s (now renamed The Stars Group<\/a>) major acquisitions over the years. This allegedly allowed a select circle of family and friends to profit from illegal stock trades. Both his brother Josh and Levett have been named by the AMF as being part of that close-knit circle.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Baazov was forced to step down as CEO and chairman of the group as a result of the allegations, and in March sold most of \u201chis\u201d shares in the company. Amaya recently made The Stars Group name switch to (at least in part) distance itself from the ongoing controversy.<\/p>\n

Figurehead CEO<\/h2>\n

But the new documents, seen by Canada\u2019s La Presse<\/em>, claim that the AMF has learned of a \u201csecret deal,\u201d signed in 2007, in which it was agreed that David would hold shares as a frontman, on behalf of his brother and Levett. So, while in 2007, David was listed as the owner of 100 percent of the company, 75 percent of these shares were actually being held on behalf of the other two men, the AMF maintains in its court papers.<\/p>\n

The agreement, which was allegedly found on Josh Baazov\u2019s seized cell phone, stipulates that the two concealed shareholders would have complete access to the company\u2019s books and records, and that no major decisions would be made without their approval.<\/p>\n

Telemarketing Fraud<\/h2>\n

If true, the reason for the concealment of Josh\u2019s ownership is almost certainly to do with a checkered past that would have affected Amaya\u2019s ability to obtain gambling licenses. In the mid-nineties, Josh was accused by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of a telemarketing fraud that tricked American senior citizens into buying hundreds of thousands of dollars in merchandise in return for the chance to win non-existent prizes.<\/p>\n

\n

In 1997, a federal judge ordered him, in absentia, to pay $777,000 in restitution to his victims. According to Toronto’s\u00a0Globe and Mail<\/em>, as of June 2015, not a cent of this had been paid. The concealment of the true owners of a public company, especially an owner with a criminal background, is a clear breach of fiduciary duties. It is also a violation of gambling laws in almost all jurisdictions in which PokerStars is licensed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In 2015, before his fall from grace, Forbes<\/em> ran a feature on Baazov, proclaiming him to be, at 34, \u201cthe King of Online Gambling.\u201d Depending on what happens at his scheduled November trial, this could be the biggest fall from grace for a “royal” since Louis XVI.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Was ex-Amaya CEO David Baazov really the PokerStars parent’s major shareholder? An extraordinary claim made in court documents filed by the Canadian securities regulator AMF last week alleges that the former chief actually served as a figurehead, concealing the real controlling shareholders of the company, which AMF claims were his brother Ofer \u201cJosh\u201d Baazov and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":59137,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,21,10,60],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDavid Baazov's Amaya Shareholder Status Questioned by Quebec's AMF<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former Amaya CEO David Baazov held company shares to conceal Josh Baazov and Craig Levett ownership, according to Quebec regulator AMF.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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