{"id":34716,"date":"2016-03-29T11:00:20","date_gmt":"2016-03-29T18:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=34716"},"modified":"2016-03-29T11:20:06","modified_gmt":"2016-03-29T18:20:06","slug":"david-baazov-stepping-down-for-now-at-amaya-voluntarily-as-allegations-mount","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/david-baazov-stepping-down-for-now-at-amaya-voluntarily-as-allegations-mount\/","title":{"rendered":"David Baazov to Step Down at Amaya For Now, as Allegations Mount"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Baazov will take a temporary break from his responsibilities as the CEO and chairman of Amaya, the company announced today. The Canadian gaming conglomerate said in a presser that Baazov, who is facing five as-yet-unproven charges of insider trading, will be replaced in the interim by Rafi Ashkenazi<\/a> as CEO, and Divyesh Gadhia as chairman.<\/p>\n

\"David
David Baazov is taking an indefinite leave of absence from his responsibilities as CEO and chairman at Amaya. The company has conceded that it must take the latest allegations \u201cseriously.\u201d (Image: forbes.ru)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ashkenazi is the recently appointed CEO of Rational Group<\/a>, while Gadhia has been an Amaya director since 2010. Gahdia also chairs the \u201cSpecial Committee\u201d of independent directors established on February 1 to oversee Baazov\u2019s private takeover acquisition proposal.<\/p>\n

\n

Baazov\u2019s decision is \u201cvoluntary,\u201d according to Amaya, and will give him the opportunity \u201cto focus on preparing an offer to acquire Amaya and to avoid a distraction for the company while he responds to certain allegations made against him by the [AMF],\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The message is that Baazov\u2019s bid to take the company private is still in the pipeline, however unlikely it now seems to an outside observer. Meanwhile, the reshuffle in the board room suggests that the Board\u2019s faith in its chairman and CEO been shaken by the sudden broadening of the scope of the AMF investigation.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Baazov \u201cMain Source\u201d of Privileged Information<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Amaya\u2019s previously stated faith that Baazov would be exonerated was based, it appears, on the results of an investigation by an independent third-party made at the behest of Amaya.<\/p>\n

Apparently believing that the AMF investigation related only to the trading of securities immediately prior to the acquisition of PokerStars and its parent the Oldford Group, the company asked two independent law firms to look into the matter thoroughly. The subsequent investigation turned up nothing illegal.<\/p>\n

But it has since been revealed that the regulator\u2019s inquiries reach far beyond the acquisition of the Oldford Group, back as far as 2011 and Amaya\u2019s takeover of Cryptologic. The AMF alleges that Baazov was the \u201cmain source\u201d of privileged information, which was allegedly shared around a network of friends, family, and business associates over a period of five years.<\/p>\n

New Allegations \u201cBeyond Scope\u201d of Internal Investigation<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On Tuesday, Amaya acknowledged that \u201cadditional AMF investigations into the alleged conduct of Mr. Baazov and others\u201d were \u201cbeyond the scope of the charges and of the internal investigation referred to\u201d in last week\u2019s announcement of support.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile none of these allegations have been proven,\u201d it added, \u201cthe Board takes them seriously and has expanded the mandate of the Special Committee to investigate these additional matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

“As always, I continue to be dedicated to doing the right thing for Amaya and all its stakeholders,\u201d said Baazov in the Tuesday\u2019s Amaya presser. \u201cI believe that stepping down in the short term will help to avoid distraction for the company and its management while I vigorously contest all allegations made against me and pursue my bid to acquire the company.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David Baazov will take a temporary break from his responsibilities as the CEO and chairman of Amaya, the company announced today. The Canadian gaming conglomerate said in a presser that Baazov, who is facing five as-yet-unproven charges of insider trading, will be replaced in the interim by Rafi Ashkenazi as CEO, and Divyesh Gadhia as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":34718,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,10,19,13],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDavid Baazov to Step Down, For Now, at Amaya \u201cVoluntarily,\u201d as Allegations Mount<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Canadian gaming company Amaya has announced that CEO David Baazov will take a voluntary leave in the face of insider trading charges.\" \/>\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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