The mystery group that alleged Evolution offered gambling in prohibited jurisdictions will be unmasked, a New Jersey court has ordered.
The mystery group behind a 2021 report alleging Evolution offered gambling in prohibited jurisdictions will be unmasked, a New Jersey court has ordered.
Calcagni & Kanefsky LLP (CK), the law firm representing the unknown group behind the report which resulted in billions in value being wiped from Evolution’s share price, has been ordered by a New Jersey Superior Court judge to disclose the identity of those responsible for it in a significant win for the business.
This, according to judge John C. Porto’s 28 February order, must be done within seven days and include the investigative company that compiled the report and the entity which ultimately commissioned it.
This could mean the resolution to one of the most intriguing mysteries in the US gambling industry: which entity authored the highly damaging hit — and why?
Evolution has strongly denied the accusations included in the report and argued they are “inaccurate, false, defamatory and methodologically flawed.”
NJ court: Evolution report ‘lacks veracity’
The court said: “[T]he continued nondisclosure should not continue and thwart the plaintiffs’ legitimate right to redress. This court finds the weight of the plaintiffs’ current claims is more than sufficient to warrant the disclosure of the anonymous client’s identity.
“The report lacks veracity and the plaintiff is entitled to all relevant discovery necessary. This court further finds that pursuit of the truth of the parties assertions is necessary here and disclosure of the client’s identity is ordered. The identity of the client is clearly necessary to enable the plaintiff to fully address its legal claims.”
The news follows two state regulators closing their investigations into Evolution in 2024, after failing to confirm the allegations in the report.
Notably, New Jersey’s Department of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE) closed its investigation into the business after finding no evidence it “sanctioned, promoted, permitted, or otherwise materially benefitted from its content offered by operators in any market that the NJDGE considers a prohibited jurisdiction”.
The court highlighted the “very credible” ruling from the regulator that the report was false and not privileged, and emphasised the compiling of the report involved surreptitiously recording Evolution employees under false pretences.
Additionally, the court pointed out additional mysteries, including how Bloomberg was sent a copy of the report in November 2021.
Porto added: “This court finds full discovery is clearly warranted and should aid in ferreting out what additional actions, if any, each of [the] parties did with the report.”
Who is behind the report?
Who exactly commissioned and released the report is one of the most tantalising mysteries the online gambling industry has seen in recent years.
A so-far unnamed PR firm, which sent the report to Bloomberg in 2021, has been in contact with several trade media outlets concerning the report.
Sources, who claimed to have gleaned the knowledge from an internal investor meeting, told NEXT.io that the alleged author of the report was a major industry supplier.
This trends with what other informed sources have previously said regarding the matter.
However, this is contradicted by an alternative theory, first reported by Casino.org, which claims to have seen information the report was created by a major US operator whose alleged motivation was to level out the online casino market.
This report, which Casino.org claimed to have seen, was said to feature similar allegations about bet365 and was allegedly drawn up to discredit the business.
This, it said, was a plan that was later shelved following the New Jersey lawsuit.
NEXT.io has reached out to Evolution for comment.