New management at Casino World Group responds to de-tagging allegations

The Affiliate Edge – Club World Casino group row over alleged fraud by de-tagging players referred by affiliates continued to simmer this week, and then was brought to the boil by an email to affiliates from AE that included a vicious attack on the former (unnamed) CEO and some startling admissions about the current state of the business.

Clearly intended to manage the growing crisis and associated adverse industry publicity, the email instead appeared to aggravate the anger and frustration of aggrieved affiliates, who complain that payments are slow and that many of their players have been de-tagged, effectively stealing their income.

To start with, the email did not identify the writer, and was merely signed “The Executive of CWC”.

Then it attacked the former CEO, an individual well-respected in the industry, alleging that he had suddenly resigned, leaving the company in turmoil following two-years of litigation in which his integrity had been questioned,

The executive concerned cannot respond, it is understood, because he is the subject of a “gagging order”. Some posters claim that the former CEO and the current management are closely related family members, making the attack all the more surprising.

The communication reveals that the company’s CFO, casino and affiliate managers all resigned before Christmas and were followed by the CTO this year, who is also accused of conduct which undermined the company.

This serious loss of experienced management talent was apparently exacerbated by banking and payment processing problems and delays, which “starved the company of cash” and triggered forum criticism, presumably among affiliates and players.

The email makes the startling accusation that these myriad problems were “deliberately staged” to cause damage to the company, but goes on to assure recipients that issues have been addressed, new managers appointed, and an unnamed consulting firm brought in to help right the ship.

That firm is allegedly the notorious AffPower, which has been previously accused of pirating games and de-tagging affiliates in other issues.

The assurances fell on mainly deaf ears, with growing numbers of affiliates on several forums and websites claiming they have evidence that their players have been de-tagged and/or that payments are not arriving on time.

The full content of the email reads:

Since November 2016, the company has undergone a rapid transformation due to the following factors:-

1. After over 2 years of intense litigation between the directors of the business the existing CEO resigned without notice throwing the business into turmoil. The CEO was found to be in breach of his fiduciary duties, branded a liar and dishonest by a High Court Judge.

2. His plan was to inflict maximum damage on the business in the shortest time in order for the other 2 Directors to call him back into the business to sort the problems out.

3. Senior staff handed in their notice, the finance director walked out within a week. The accounts manager left before Xmas. The CTO actually undermined the business by sending an extremely harmful email to our software supplier. He actually said the only way this business will survive is to bring back the CEO. In the short time the CTO was there, he encouraged staff underneath him to look for other jobs because he said the company won’t be around in the new year.

4. Payment Processors held back payments to the business for weeks and in some cases months, starving the company of cash.

5. Forums started to spread malicious gossip about what was going on in the business.

6. Valuable bank accounts were shut with very little notice causing many difficulties which have led to a lot of payment problems.

All the above problems were deliberately staged to cause maximum damage to the business.

However, the existing Directors brought in a team of consultants to save the business from disaster in early December. Their role was not to disrupt the daily running of the business but to help maintain staff confidence. Their primary aim was to get the payment processors functioning. I am pleased to report that they are now functioning as normal. Marketing was left alone. Affiliates could have lost millions in revenue if it wasn’t for the action of the consultants.

Disappointingly, most of the senior staff have now left. Their positions have now been filled by juniors who have stepped up and are doing an excellent job.

1. The business is now flourishing and has had excellent results over the past 3 months.

2. Affiliates are now being paid earlier than ever in the company’s history and will continue to do so.

3. The existing staff are loyal and are more confident than ever that their future is secure.

4. A handful of affiliates have asked about issues, some of them being payment issues due to closure of accounts. Other issues have been inherited and will be resolved.

There are positive plans for the future which is looking very rosy and we hope to share them with our partners asap. This company will be around for many years and will continue to grow and all our partners will prosper from the changes that will be implemented. We intend to speak to all our affiliates on an individual basis in the near future.

The Executive of CWC

One thing is sure – the damage to reputation caused by this furore will not easily be overcome.