People news 20 December 2012
A round-up of industry moves from the last week (14 December to 20 December 2012).
Lederer settles with Southern District of New York
Black Friday indictee agrees to forfeit properties, vehicles and bank funds as part of settlement.
Former Tiltware board member Howard Lederer has settled his civil case with the US Attorneys Office, Southern District of New York, without admitting to any wrongdoing as part of his forfeiture.
According to Diamondflushpoker, Lederer has agreed to forfeit funds held in several personal bank accounts, various luxury vehicles including a 1965 Shelby Cobra automobile, his properties in Las Vegas and California and funds related to the sales of various other properties.
As a FTP board member Lederer allegedly pocketed in excess of $42m of the estimated $443m total illicit funds obtained by the operator.
He was among the Full Tilt employees named in the Black Friday indictments, charged with money laundering offences, wire fraud, bank fraud and the operation of an illegal gambling business, as well as the use of relevant property in illegal gambling businesses.
NetEnt appoints new comms director
Communications veteran joins Swedish games supplier.
Net Entertainment has appointed Elisabeth Lennhede to the position of communications director, with the former SEB employee joining the software provider’s management team.
Lennhede has almost twenty years’ experience in communications, and joins from Swedish corporate bank SEB, where she served as head of communications for the company’s merchant banking division. She previously served as head of communications for mobile operator 3, and software company Intentia.
She will report directly to chief executive Per Eriksson, who said of her appointment: “Elisabeth has a broad and deep experience within communications and also possess a good background from the financial sector, which will benefit Net Entertainment in the Company’s continued expansion.”
Lennhede herself added: “It will be very exciting to work for Net Entertainment being a leading
provider of gaming systems to several of the world’s largest gaming operators. It is an interesting industry in strong growth with excellent opportunities to further develop the awareness of the company.”
Seven days in launches and sign-ups:
Betfair appoints Playdom VP in reshuffle
Betfair has looked towards major multinational corporations as it makes the first wave of new management appointments under Breon Corcoran, bringing in individuals with experience at Diageo, Disney and eBay including former Playdom VP Paul LaFontaine.
The appointments follow last month’s arrival of chief financial officer Alex Gersh, who replaced longtime incumbent Stephen Morana, while the operator’s former corporate development director Mark Brooker has taken on a new role of managing director of sports.
Brooker’s move follows an 8% year-on-year increase in sports revenue for the six months ended 31 October, with the European Football Championships helping football revenue rise by 15% compared to the corresponding period last year.
Q&A: Juergen Reutter, director of mobile at William Hill Online
eGaming Review: William Hill Online’s big push is focusing on the customer. How does this translate to the mobile environment and what you are working on at the moment?
Player numbers on FTP fell by 13% for the week ending 17 December, the fourth consecutive week of decline after it was relaunched on 6 November, according to PokerScout’s weekly online poker traffic update. The site returned to the market following an audacious US$731m acquisition by PokerStars which was approved by the New York Department of Justice in July.