The former CEO of shuttered online gaming software developer Sheriff Gaming has announced that he is suing the Dutch government for €75 million due to the country's closing of his company.
Stijn Flapper told the newspaper Financieele Dagblad that he was suing the Netherlands for what he calls is an illegal prosecution of him and his company that stemmed from an investigation. That investigation was led by the Netherlands tax office as well as law enforcement, which claimed that Sheriff Gaming as well as Flapper was involved with illegal online betting, drugs, forgery, money laundering, and tax evasion. Furthermore, several former Sheriff Gaming employees claimed the software was rigged so that large jackpots could only be won by the owner's chosen friends and family.
Flapper maintains that the governments claims were untrue, and that the investigation resulted in the failure of a €41.5 million deal with an unknown purchaser, who had agreed to purchase a 49% stake in Sheriff's parent company, the Bubble Group. He also says that the lawsuit he is filing doesn't take into account the potential earnings of the business if it would have stayed in operation.
The Dutch government was awarded a default judgment against Flapper and his business associates for €13.5 million in the case. Flapper is appealing the ruling and the case is still pending.
Comments
When it comes to gambling, I think there's always someone suing someone, especially when large companies are involved. I'm interested to see how this all ends.
I'm not too familiar with that case but obviously there's are a lot more serious convictions than just some gambling violations against this guy and his company and I doubt all that been out of whole cloth....but we cant deny the guy's quite cheeky...to sue the state..