Authorities in Gibraltar have issued an arrest warrant for Karel Mañasco, the previous CEO and CFO of Mansion Gibraltar after he did not attend a courtroom listening to for sentencing in a contempt of courtroom case. Mañasco, 44, is on the heart of a authorized storm involving allegations that he misappropriated roughly £5 million from the now-defunct on-line playing agency.
Former Mansion boss faces arrest after skipping courtroom for contempt sentencing:
In keeping with GBC Information, he was resulting from seem in courtroom on April 9 to obtain sentencing for breaching a collection of courtroom orders, together with a worldwide freezing order issued in March 2023. As a substitute, Mañasco’s authorized counsel submitted a recusal software, claiming Chief Justice Anthony Dudley had demonstrated bias all through the authorized proceedings and needs to be faraway from the case. The applying additionally accused Mansion Group, the regulation agency Isolas, former minister Albert Isola, and the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority of colluding in opposition to him. Mañasco likened himself to David combating Goliath, arguing that the proceedings had been retaliation for his alleged whistleblowing about unlawful practices at Mansion.
Regardless of these claims, the choose declined to step down, stating that though recusal can be “the simple choice,” doing so can be mistaken. After Mañasco once more failed to look the next day, the courtroom issued a warrant for his arrest. The sentencing has now been rescheduled for Could 14.
The contempt expenses stem from repeated violations of the freezing order, together with exceeding court-imposed spending limits, transferring funds into his spouse’s checking account in Spain, and utilizing unapproved financial institution accounts. He additionally submitted a false affidavit understating his precise expenditures. Chief Justice Dudley rejected Mañasco’s arguments that he misunderstood the phrases or that the spending was attributable to his spouse.
In a March ruling, Dudley warned that the character of Mañasco’s actions would usually end in a custodial sentence, underscoring the seriousness of the breaches. The Supreme Court docket beforehand discovered him in contempt on a number of functions submitted by Mansion Group between August 2023 and June 2024.
Civil case and ongoing authorized battle:
The contempt case is a part of a broader and long-running dispute between Mañasco and his former employer. Mansion Group accused him of misusing firm funds for unauthorized funds, awarding himself extreme bonuses, and utilizing funds to buy luxurious items. Civil proceedings in 2024 concluded with the Supreme Court docket ordering Mañasco to repay €2.5 million and £127,073, a ruling he continues to contest.
In keeping with courtroom information, the funds underneath scrutiny had been linked to White Wizard Media, a agency Mansion claims supplied no providers in return for the €2.5 million in funds made between August 2018 and June 2019. The cash was allegedly transferred to offshore accounts held by Mañasco.
Mañasco has challenged the courtroom rulings on grounds of judicial bias, however his arguments had been dismissed by the Gibraltar Court docket of Enchantment in January. His authorized staff has indicated plans to take the case to the Privy Council in London, citing issues over privateness rights and the equity of the authorized course of.
Whereas the authorized saga continues, Mansion Group has ceased all B2C operations. After years of increasing its on line casino and sportsbook footprint, the corporate closed its MansionBet model and shut down UK-facing platforms like On line casino.com, MansionCasino.com, and SlotsHeaven.com in 2023. By October of that 12 months, Mansion had ended all direct-to-consumer exercise, focusing as a substitute on winding down its operations. Regardless of this, the corporate’s authorized entanglements persist, with Mañasco’s contempt sentencing nonetheless pending.
