People news 01/11/12
A round-up of industry moves from the last week (26 October to 1 November 2012).
Colbert fired from Cantor Gaming
Former sportsbook director makes initial court appearance “ faces eight charges including enterprise corruption, money laundering, promoting gambling and conspiracy.
Cantor Gaming’s former sportsbook director Mike Colbert is no longer with the company, according to a statement made by a company spokesperson in response to his alleged involvement in illegal bookmaking and money laundering.
Colbert appeared in court yesterday at the Las Vegas Justice Court. His next appearance is scheduled for 8 November in front of Judge Joe Bonaventure and his US$50,000 bail has been posted.
The former Cantor Gaming employee faces eight charges, including enterprise corruption, money laundering, promoting gambling and conspiracy. His arrest last week was part of a major national investigation with 25 individuals facing 225 charges.
Cantor Gaming spokesman Robert Hubbell said in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal: “Although the charges were not related to his responsibilities at Cantor Gaming, it is important to note that our account wagering system is designed to prevent misconduct. However, after we were made aware of the accusations against our former employee, we immediately commenced an extensive analysis of our records and accounts to ensure that the services we provide were not in any way jeopardized and to date have found nothing to indicate that this employee was using our system or accounts for wrongdoing.
Bet-at-home joint-MD Dickinger steps down
Bet-at-home co-founder and joint managing director Jochen Dickinger has announced plans to step down for “personal and private reasons,” according to a statement from the Betclic Everest Group component.
He had been with the operator – now part of the Betclic Everest Group – since founding it with fellow joint-MD Franz Ãmer in 1999, when Dickinger himself was just 24 years old. He will be replaced in his role tomorrow by Michael Quatember, the operator’s head of finance and accounting.
The 37-year-old oversaw the listing of bet-at-home on the Frankfurt and Vienna stock exchanges, while the Maltese-licensed operator also secured dot.country licences in Italy and Schleswig-Holstein during his and Ãmer’s tenure.
Seven days in people moves:
GTS co-founder joins Leander Games as CEO
Gaming Technology Solutions (GTS) co-founder Steven Matsell has joined casino games company Leander Games as its new chief executive.
Matsell spent almost five years building up GTS before selling the business to Playtech at the end of 2009 for more than 20m. While there he was responsible for sales, product management, commercial, legal, customer relationship management and game development partners and has been credited with signing up a large number of operators to the platform.
Since the acquisition Playtech has used GTS’s Enhanced Gaming Engine (EdGE) open platform to provide its clients with access to the best in breed games. Following the sale Matsell was a board member of the Playtech Holding company for GTS.
A.G. Burnett appointed chair of Nevada GCB
Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval has appointed former gaming attorney A.G. Burnett as the new chairman of the state’s Gaming Control Board (GCB).
Burnett, who joined the board in January 2011, replaces former chairman Mark Lipparelli in the role which he vacated last month.
He previously worked as senior deputy attorney general in the gaming division and earlier in his career acted as an associate in a Reno law firm engaging in civil litigation.
Baroness Denise Kingsmill has stepped down from the board of Betfair, saying in a statement: “I have greatly enjoyed my time at Betfair. It is a great business with a strong management team and I wish it every success”. Baroness Kingsmill joined the board of the operator in February 2011, and chairman Gerald Corbett said: “We are very sorry to lose someone with the talents and expertise of Denise. I would like to thank her for her excellent contributions during her tenure.”
Scientific Games division SG Gaming has appointed Gareth Taylor as client services manager and John Docherty as director of sales. Taylor previously spent four years as head of account management for GameAccount Network, while Docherty has had spells as CEO of BEToptions and commercial director of Buzz Sports.
Payment processor SecureTrading has appointed David Lambert as its corporate sales manager. Lambert has been involved in the payments and gaming industry since 2010, with previous stints at PayEasy Payment Solutions UK and Unified Payments Europe, and said of his new role: “By bringing in my strategic expertise with large corporates and clients operating in high risk sectors, I look forward to driving the growth of the business further.”