Oligarchs Battle Over $19 Million in Online Gambling Firm Dispute

A legal battle has erupted between former associates over control of the online gambling platform BeFree, with claims totaling $19 million. Revaz Megrelishvili, Josh Bazov, and Avraham Ben-Eliezer are suing Roland Isaev for $19 million and Ivan Montik, Pavel Kashuba, and Dmitry Yekau for $4.2 million, alleging they were unlawfully stripped of their control over the company. BeFree reported a revenue of $1.3 billion in the first quarter of 2023.

The lawsuits were filed in the Tel Aviv District Court, following a process that began in 2022 and included arbitration proceedings in Austria. The plaintiffs claim they were owners of Capital Investment. Montik and Yekau founded Softswiss, another online gambling company, with Kashuba serving as its CFO. In 2018, Montik and Yekau established BeFree to sell a portion of their Softswiss holdings to the plaintiffs.

According to the lawsuit, Isaev, a Russian-based Jewish businessman, became a 34% partner in Capital Investment after providing a loan for the BeFree deal. The plaintiffs allege Isaev has a history of illicit business dealings, including bid-rigging and bribery, and uses complex corporate structures and proxies to conceal his involvement in illegal activities. They claim he orchestrated a conspiracy to dispossess them of their holdings, initiated baseless legal proceedings, hacked into their computers, and launched a global smear campaign against them.

The plaintiffs assert that Capital Investment acquired 60% of BeFree's shares for 21 million euros in 2019, with the deal intended to be financed by company dividends to repay a 17 million euro loan from Isaev. They allege the defendants prevented dividend payments, causing Capital Investment to default on the loan. Isaev then reportedly initiated liquidation proceedings, took control of the company, and distributed the assets among the other defendants. The lawsuit also details a widespread defamation campaign, including the creation of fake websites and impersonation of the plaintiffs, particularly Bazov and his family, using information obtained through hacking.

Lawyers representing the plaintiffs have filed the lawsuits, and the defendants have yet to submit their responses.