The crypto gambling operator that is a sponsor to the English Premier League (EPL) football club Everton F.C. – Stake UK – has faced legal action worth £346 million. The lawsuit has been filed by an ex-business partner of the crypto gambling company’s co-founders who has alleged that they stole money from him and forced him out of the business.
As revealed by The Guardian, court filings say that the Florida resident Christopher Freeman now claims that he was closely involved with Primedice, the company preceding Stake. Its current value is estimated at about £1 billion. Mr Freeman claims that Primedice was established by him, Bijan Tehrani (a school friend of his), and Ed Craven, who currently run the crypto gambling operator.
The plaintiff claims that the aforementioned business was built by the three of them together, but, eventually, the other two – Craven and Tehrani – gradually alienated him by bullying him and using unlawful tactics against him. The company, however, denies these allegations.
In a few years after being set up, the company has quickly become one of the fastest-growing gambling brands in the sector that have agreed on partnerships with sports stars such as the F1 driver Pietro Fittipaldi and celebrities such as the platinum-selling rapper Drake. Furthermore, the operator also sponsors Everton F.C. and Watford F.C., just like some offshore gambling companies that have sponsorship agreements with English and Scottish football clubs.
Stake UK Denies Co-Founder’s Allegations as False and Inconsistent
The apple of discord is linked to the origin of Stake UK. According to the plaintiff, it was his idea to expand the predecessor of the currently-existing company by transforming Primedice into a more comprehensive crypto casino operator. In his lawsuit, Mr Freeman says that his partners claimed to be more interested in establishing a more traditional online casino service, using “fiat” currency. Eventually, however, Tehrani and Craven established a cryptocurrency gambling operator, which is now Stake UK.
Now Freeman claims that his two former partners used his ideas to build the business, along with Primedice funds that were rightfully his. He seeks the court to schedule a full audit of Stake UK’s assets in order to check what he is rightfully owed. According to his claims, the sum could exceed £340 million.
A spokesperson for Stake UK denied the allegations made by Mr Freeman as “internally inconsistent” and false, saying that the plaintiff was intentionally misleading the court by spreading false information about funds over which he had no rightful claims. The spokesperson also said that the cryptocurrency casino operator had no intention of giving in to such blackmail and was sure that the court would dismiss all allegations made by Freeman.
For the time being, Stake.com is based in Curacao but is linked to EasyGo, an Australian business.
Mr Freeman also claims that the currency gambling operator is not only aware of, but also encourages, the use of so-called VPNs (virtual private networks) by its customers who are willing to gamble with the company but are not legally allowed to do so by the rules in their countries. Currently, crypto gambling is illegal in the UK and the US. Representatives of the company, however, rejected these accusations, saying that the crypto gambling platform does not accept money from customers who use VPNs to mask their actual location, saying that the company’s operations comply with all applicable laws.
The operator noted that it had implemented strict compliance procedures beyond simple geoblocking, including various anti-money laundering and know-your-customer (KYC) measures. It also mentioned the implementation of responsible gambling measures, including offering customers free blocking software in case they are willing to prevent themselves from gambling.
- Author
Olivia Cole
