The Supreme Court of Gibraltar has ruled against former Mansion Group CEO, Karel Manasco, in which his former employers accused him of the extortion of company accounts and the abuse of corporate duties.
As a result, Manasco was ordered to pay more than €2.5m to Mansion Group, which had been obtained illegally from the Gibraltar firm.
Manasco was found to have paid lucrative consultancy fees from Mansion Group to White Wizard Media (WWML), a company that Manion states provided ‘no service’ to the operator, as it described the relationship as ‘a sham’.
In total, there were 14 invoices from WWML to Mansion totalling €2,508,035.36 made between 10 August 2018 to 13 June 2019. Mansion is alleging that through these payments, Manasco funnelled money into offshore jurisdictions and benefited personally. The former CEO, however, disputes these claims.
It ran alongside a seperate case against Manasco in which the court also ruled in favour of Mansion Group regarding fees paid to a KM consultancy firm totalling £127,073.28.
The court stated that there wasn’t a sufficient explanation from Manasco over the payments.
It continues a longstanding legal tussle between the employer and executive after a decision from the Gibraltar courts in February last year froze £5m worth of Manasco’s assets.
This was made following allegations that Manasco had paid himself bonuses and personal payments that he shouldn’t have.
In October last year, Mansion Group confirmed the closure of its B2C operations, including its flagship brands Casino.com and MansionCasino.com.
At the start of 2023, Mansion Group announced its exit from the UK gambling market, choosing to withdraw its full online casino portfolio of Casino.com, MansionCasino.com and SlotsHeaven.com
The exit came off the back of the group terminating its flagship MansionBet sportsbook from the UK market in 2022.
Following a streamlining of its business, Mansion had stated that it would focus on “profitable markets where it currently operates”.
Founded in 2004, Mansion was launched as a deep-pocketed challenger sportsbook and online casino brand aiming to take market share from legacy competitors of William Hill, Ladbrokes, Betfred and Coral.
