Accusations of illegal gambling wipes $3bn off Evolution’s value

Evolution has been accused of operating in a number of illegal markets and in countries subject to US sanctions, which has seen the Stockholm-listed supplier’s share price plummet almost 10% in trading this morning.

The live casino giant is subject to a complaint from Ralph Marra of Calcagni & Kanefsky LLP filed to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement on 12 November.

According to Bloomberg, Marra said he was writing on behalf of unnamed private investigators.

The investigators have claimed that they were able to access and play Evolution games from Iran, Syria and Sudan, all three of which are subject to US sanctions.

The investigators, who were operating undercover, also claimed that members of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s family were among the players able to access the content.

Investigators were also able to access Evolution games in Singapore and Hong Kong where online gambling is illegal.

Evolution was also reportedly found to be using unlicensed third parties to offer its content throughout Spain, Italy and Sweden.

The investigators filmed and recorded themselves accessing the content to document their findings.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Carl Linton, Evolution head of investor relations, said: “Evolution strictly complies with all applicable laws and regulations.

Linton went on to note that, as a supplier, Evolution has no control over operators’ decisions on where to offer products.

He added: “We have no direct relationship with the underlying player and no involvement in handling of players’ money.”

An Evolution spokesperson said: “We use all tools at our disposal to block play from certain countries, including all countries on sanction lists mentioned in the [Bloomberg] article.”

Evolution’s share price has fallen by 9.8% at the time of writing, down to SEK1,346.80 (113.11) from a previous close of SEK1,482.80, the result being $3bn in market value wiped out in the process.