Evolution’s Anonymous Accuser to Be Named in Libel Case
A judge from the New Jersey Superior Court has mandated that the individuals behind a famous anonymous report, which caused a $3 billion decrease in the market cap of gaming software company Evolution AB, be revealed.
Evolution is taking legal action against the unidentified writers for defamation. This is due to the report claiming that the company supplied games to operators operating in unregulated markets, including “forbidden terrorist nations such as Iran, Syria, and Sudan.”
An ensuing inquiry conducted by the New Jersey gaming regulator (DGE) discovered "no evidence" backing the allegations. An independent investigation by authorities in Pennsylvania arrived at the same result. The allegation led to a sharp decline in the company’s stock in November 2021.
Evolution is additionally taking legal action against Calcagni & Kanefsky (C&K), the New Jersey law firm that submitted the report to the DGE for its unidentified client.
‘Lacks Truthfulness’
So far, the unidentified entity has been shielded by attorney-client privilege while the court aimed to reconcile Calcagni & Kanefsky's duty to its client with the plaintiff's right to access information essential for pursuing civil action.
In April 2024, Judge John C. Porto concluded that additional efforts were required to ascertain the veracity of the claims in the report before Evolution could identify the specific party it was suing.
On Friday, Porto stated he was pleased that the report “lacks truth,” mentioning that Evolution had the right to all pertinent discovery required.
“The identity of the client is clearly necessary to enable the plaintiff to fully address its legal claims,” the judge concluded, in an order seen by Next.io.
This data needs to be submitted to the court by March 7 and should feature the investigative agency that prepared the report and the organization that ordered it.
Bet365 File Also Exists
In November 2021, the same New York PR agency reached out to two reporters from Casino.org independently. Alongside the Evolution document, the company possessed a report aimed at similarly undermining Bet365 and its purported activities in China, which Casino.org has examined.
During a phone conversation, the business owner informed a reporter that a US-based gambling company had commissioned the documents with the aim of “leveling the playing field” in the online casino markets of the US. He later refuted this to the second journalist a few weeks afterward.
The attempt to undermine Bet365 seemed to have been dropped when the Evolution case escalated.