888 Removes Pazner as CEO Effective Immediately

Online betting giant 888 Holdings has announced that the company's board of directors has removed CEO Itai Pazner from his position effective immediately, due to revelations related to 888's failings for KYC and anti-money laundering policies.

Pazner had more than 20 years of time at 888, and had served as CEO since 2019. He helped the company expand throughout North America, having purchased the US assets of William Hill. Pazner's role will be temporarily filled by Non-Executive Chairman Lord Mendelsohn while 888 searches for someone to take on the role of CEO full-time.

Regarding the move, 888 Interim Executive Chair Lord Mendelsohn said, "On behalf of the board I would like to thank Itai for his significant contributions to the business over more than 20 years, including the last four as CEO.

"Itai has played a very important role in building a business with powerful proprietary technology and has overseen successful early stages to the William Hill integration process. We wish him well in his future endeavours."

Pazner's departure comes weeks after the company's CFO Yariv Dafna announced their resignation from the company on March 31st. The company also announced that it was suspending VIP activities for customers from the Middle East after it was revealed that best practices related to know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering procedures weren't being followed. The company is looking into these failing and has suspended VIP customer accounts from the region, effective immediately pending investigation.

"The board and I take the group's compliance responsibilities incredibly seriously," Mendelsohn said. "When we were alerted to issues with some of 888's VIP customers, the board took decisive actions.

"We will be uncompromising in our approach to compliance as we build a strong and sustainable business."

Casino Listings News is following this story and will update readers as developments arise.

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