Amaya CEO David Baazov charged with five counts of insider trading

The Québec securities regulator, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) announced on Wednesday that they have officially filed charges related to illegal insider trading after finishing their investigation regarding Amaya Gaming's 2014 acquisition of PokerStars. In total there are 23 charges, five of which accuse Amaya CEO David Baazov of insider trading and leaking of confidential information.

Baazov is accused of leaking privileged information and manipulating the market price of Amaya shares. Amaya Gaming bought Rational Group (the owners of PokerStars and Full Tilt) in June 2014 for $4.9 billion. In the days leading up to the announcement of the deal being struck, Amaya shares increased 50% which prompted the AMF to start their investigation.

The AMF raided the Amaya headquarters in November 2014, but Baazov stated that this is a routine investigation and there is no need to worry. After that, we didn't hear about the case for months until Wednesday's announcement of the filed charges.

Baazov has stated that he is disappointed by the AMF's decision but is highly confident that he will prove his innocence.

Other people who face charges include a former Amaya financial advisor (Yoel Altman), Baazov's childhood friend (Benjamin Ahdoot). The AMF also released a list of 13 people who have been banned from securities tranding, including Baazov's brother Josh Baazov.