Christiaan Alexander Van Dalen, an ex-affiliate manager with Bettson AB has been accused stealing more than $150,000 from the company via an elaborate re-tagging scheme.
Van Dalen has been charged with seven crimes, including money laundering and fraud, and appeared before a magistrate in a Maltese courtroom late last week. (Van Dalen, who is Dutch, worked out of Bettson’s Malta office.)
Though Van Dalen plead not guilty to the charges, he is still being held without bail due to the fact that Maltese authorities believe he risk for flight.
The crimes Van Dalen is accused of are the stuff of casino affiliate nightmares. His scheme involved identifying high value players from Betsson’s affiliate player base and re-tagging them as his own.
Once the cash started flowing, Van Dalen allegedly funneled the ill-gotten booty through bank accounts in the Philippines that were registered under his wife’s name. Van Dalen’s wife, who was not identified, has not been charged with any wrongdoing in the matter so far.
So far, authorities have only accounted for around $37,000 of the $153,000 Van Dalen is accused of stealing. According to a report on Malta Today, it’s believed that Van Dalen used at least some of the stolen cash to purchase property in the Philippines.
Not surprisingly, casino affiliate forums are abuzz with questions about whose players Van Dalen was actually stealing. CalvinAyre.com is reporting a conversation between a Betsson affiliate and a Betsson official in which Betsson claims the players Van Dalen re-tagged did not come from affiliates.
Readers will also not be surprised to find out the affiliates were very skeptical of this claim.
This story is still in its early stages and it’s very likely that we’ll hear more details about where Van Dalen’s players came from in the weeks and months to come.