Flutter agrees to pay $4 million settlement in Russian bribery case

[The Buzz]

Flutter has agreed to pay a $4 million settlement to the Securities and Exchange Commission for alleged due diligence failures by PokerStars’ previous owner, the Stars Group. Flutter bought that Toronto-based company in 2020.

From the Wall Street Journal:

The SEC, which announced the settlement Monday, said the Stars Group paid about $8.9 million to Russia-based consultants as it pushed for the legalization of poker in that country. The alleged payments were made between 2015 and 2020.

Flutter under the settlement neither admitted nor denied the SEC’s allegations. Flutter said it was pleased the matter had been concluded.

“This is a legacy issue, related to a period prior to Flutter’s ownership of the Stars Group,” a spokesman said. “Following our acquisition of TSG, we made significant changes to implement a framework of controls in line with Flutter’s existing standards.”

The SEC acknowledged in its announcement Flutter’s cooperation in the investigation and its efforts to ensure that such incidents would not be allowed to occur in the future.

Read the announcement here: https://www.sec.gov/enforce/34-97044-s

[AuthorityLinks]

pocket change for flutter