The gambling world has been scaling along with the pace of dynamic IT development. Therefore, the gambling business is one of the most profitable deals in the world. But it confronts many ups and downs on its way as it primarily deals with legitimate regulations.
In addition, there is one outstanding figure as David Baazov, who appealed to the public attention for various reasons in 2010. First, he became famous as the “king of poker” at 34 and was a successful young businessman. Second, he was caught in various fraud activities that led to high-profile scandals.
This Canadian businessman seemed to be extremely lucky at the initial stages of his success. In 2010, he founded the popular Amaya Gaming company, which revenue exceeded $6 million. Besides, to tailor unique game software and additional tools, David acquiredseveral small firms. Then, he accomplished a range of business deals that brought fame by purchasing slot machines manufacturer Cadillac Jack (for $117 million), Rational Group brand, building partnerships with other giant companies, etc.
When it comes to the gaming business, the issue of legitimacy is priority number one. Thus, the more David became popular and possessed vast amounts of money, the more several regulatory structures were interested in his business processes. Accordingly, these structures in Canada started exploring the entire David’s business story and found it not relatively smooth. For example, in 2016, David Baazov was accused of trading using insider information by the Financial Markets Commission (AMF). He rejected all charges and tried to prove his innocence. But he failed, and later, he was fired from the director position at Amaya company, rebranded to Star Group then.
But this fraudster kept a double game with his brother Josh (also known as Ofer Baazov). Due to the investigation report, David passed inside information about the Amaya company to his brother, and the latter leaked it to his partner Levett. In such an illegal way, they managed to earn about $1.5 million.
Ofer and Levett already had a bad reputation in the gambling world. According to AMF reports, they were associated with the gambling site BetonUSA which went bankrupt 10 years earlier and faced a “tricky disappearance” of $1 million in an unknown customer’s deposit. Moreover, in 2017, there was noticed that the Amaya company management was carried out by David’s brother but not by his own. Thus, Ofer-Josh, alongside Craig Levett, owned 75% of the company. In addition, Ofer was charged with drug possession and scamming with the prize drawing in a TV shop. Finally, due to the last case, Ofer was sentenced by the court to pay to victims $777,000 in compensation. But it seemed all these troubles, and bad actions of brothers didn’t stop them. On the contrary, they appeared to be obsessed with it.
It frequently happens when one criminal case shows up, there is another one to appear. So, in 2014, Baazov was accused of bribing the governor of New York with an illegal donation of $25,000 for the election campaign of Andrew Cuomo.
Later, the Baazov brothers were seen in Africa. In 2017, they undertook the M-Lotto and Kwachu 6/48 lotteries in Kenya, collaborating with the non-profit organization Lion’s Heart Self Help. It was agreed that 25% of the proceeds would go to charity. But the representatives of Lion’s Heart Self Help never saw the money. That is why David Baazov was accused. And it was not the end of their fraudulent activity.
Accordingly, their reputation as successful businessmen turned out to series of charges of criminal cases. But every time David was called to the respective court where his case was discussed, he got lucky to stand off and was at least sentenced to pay compensations on particular sums. Today, these slimy brothers keep on promoting their activities and seem no to leave the gambling business.
