Former head of Amaya pleads not guilty

David Baazov is charged with five offences, including aiding with trades whilst in possession of privileged information.

Canada.- According to Quebec’s securities regulator, David Baazov ex-CEO of gaming company Amaya, two associates and three companies pleaded not guilty to several securities-related charges following an investigation into allegations of insider trading.

David Baazov was charged in March with five offences, which included aiding with trades whilst in possession of privileged information, influencing or attempting to influence the market price of the securities of Amaya and revealing privileged information.

An investigation by the Autorité des marchés financiers resulted in 23 charges against three people Baazov, Yoel Altman and Benjamin Ahdoot and three companies: Diocles Capital Inc., Sababa Consulting Inc. and 2374879 Ontario Inc.

The charges rise from the alleged use of privileged information when trading company shares between December 2013 and the announcement in June 2014 of a US$4.9-billion deal to acquire the Oldford Group. The deal included the acquisition of gambling website PokerStars.

Sylvain Theberge, AMF spokesman said that the accused all formally pleaded in writing in the last couple of weeks adding that the case will soon be forwarded to Quebec court for the selection of a judge and setting trial dates. The penalty for insider trading is CAD5,000 (US$ 3,971) to CAD5 million (US$3.97 million) per charge in addition to up to five years in prison, explained Theberge. Baazov has claimed from the beginning that the allegations are false.