Amaya Maintains No Wrongdoing in Stock Investigation

This story was published more than 8 years ago.

Canadian betting giant Amaya Gaming has issued a statement this week insisting its innocence in an investigation that is being conducted by Quebec's securities regulator AMF pertaining to the firm's acquisition of the Rational Group.

Amaya purchased Rational for $4.9 billion last year, taking hold of poker brands PokerStars and Full Tilt in the process. However, Canadian regulators later served a search warrant on Amaya and various other companies, searching for evidence that proved certain individuals used insider information to buy and sell Amaya stock.

The statement by Amaya read: “The release of the redacted documents presents nothing new to Amaya. Amaya has previously received the redacted affidavit and reviewed its limited contents and did not contest the court’s decision [to allow publication]. It will wait to see the actual unredacted affidavit, but it does not believe there is a reasonable basis for proceedings against Amaya or its employees.”

Amaya's compliance advisor Ben Soave added: “We have thoroughly reviewed the relevant internal activities around [Amaya's] acquisition of Oldford Group [parent of Rational Group] and have found no evidence of any violation of Canadian securities laws or regulations including tipping and insider trading by CEO David Baazov and CFO Daniel Sebag."

"Additionally, the company has not been provided with any evidence that any executives, directors, or employees violated any securities laws or regulations.”

The investigation into Amaya is ongoing, and no charges have yet been filed against anyone in the case. Casino Listings will update this story as more developments arise.

About the author

Dustin Jermalowicz // News Editor
Dustin Jermalowicz
Dustin has a long-standing passion for gambling. He has been writing professionally on the subject and breaking industry news for Casino Listings since 2011. His favorite casino games include Blackjack, Poker, and Hi/Lo. A proud native of Detroit, Dustin currently lives in Michigan.