David Baazov insider trading case thrown out
Ruling ends two-year case against former Amaya CEO
A Canadian judge has thrown out charges of insider trading against former Amaya CEO David Baazov, effectively ending a two year case.
Baazov was on trial in Montreal for “aiding with trades while in possession of privileged information and influencing the market price of Amaya”.
The case turned on its head last week when the Quebec securities regulator, the AMF, accidentally released over 320,000 documents via the prosecution that were classified as confidential to the defence attorneys.
Speaking in court, Baazov’s attorney Sophie Melchers mocked the attitude of the AMF in requesting these mistakenly released documents back, quipping: “Oops, we dropped the ball and gave you 320,000 documents by accident. No big deal.”
Melchers successfully argued that the release of the AMF documents to the defence team meant that Baazov would not receive a fair trial.
Judge Mascia agreed with this assertion, stating that “When the circumstances justify it, the courts must stay the proceedings. This is only to be used in the most dramatic cases. There must be no other acceptable solution that might right the wrongs. In this case, do the accumulation of mistakes require a stay of proceedings? Yes.”
Baazov, was initially charged with insider trading relating to the $4.9bn acquisition of PokerStars by his then employers, Amaya Inc in March 2016.
Following the charges Baazov took an indefinite leave of absence Baazov steps aside amid insider dealing charges, before being formally replaced by interim CEO Rafi Askenazi in August 2016.
In a statement after the ruling, Baazov’s representatives said: “We agree with the judge and are happy with the decision.”