The Australian founders of online betting website Stake.com are facing legal action in the United States seeking $400 million (€401 million) in damages for a former associate.
Christopher Freeman launched civil court action in the Southern District of New York seeking punitive damages and payment for his initial investment in a precursor company of Stake.com. The suit alleges that Freeman was misled by the two Stake.com founders and, as a result, was left out of the formation of the new company. Stake.com has also been targeted by the legal action.
Stake.com founders, Ed Craven and Bijan Tehrani have dismissed the legal action telling local press that it was ‘provably false’.
Freeman, a childhood friend of Tehrani, claims that they both set up an online casino business called Primedice in 2013 while they were in university. Freeman claims he held a 20% stake in Primedice while Tehrani and Craven both held 40% each. The legal action claims that within nine months of the creation of Primedice, his shares had been reduced to 14%. This was done to reward other senior members of the development team. It’s Freeman’s opinion that this share transfer was a breach of the original agreement that Primedice would only provide equity to other investors beyond they original three founders.
Freeman then claims that although he had suggested the idea of creating a cryptocurrency casino, the Tehrani and Craven dissuaded him from making an initial investment in Stake.com and was told that he could invest at a later date. He also alleges that he was told that the new business would not accept cryptocurrencies.
The court documents state:
Stake.com Founders Hit With $400 Million Lawsuit Stake.com Founders Hit With $400 Million Lawsuit Stake.com Founders Hit With $400 Million Lawsuit Stake.com Founders Hit With $400 Million Lawsuit Stake.com Founders Hit With $400 Million Lawsuit released to the Australian press, the company said:Stake.com Founders Hit With $400 Million Lawsuit“The complaint filed by Chris Freeman contains allegations that are internally inconsistent, intentionally misleading, and provably false. It amounts to desperate attempt to spread false information.”
