Public ties between Heroic, 1xBet, Paradise Papers.
This investigation into the ownership of Norwegian organization Heroic shows that there are public and direct ties to the controversial betting site 1xBet and the Paradise Papers. I have summarized the details of my research into Heroic below, being as clear as possible.
More context with Richard Lewis : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmrsX3JHIdk
The investigation
In case you are unfamiliar with 1xBet; the company (and its many subsidiaries), is one of the main players in the esports scene related to Valve’s popular games Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2. Present as a sponsor for numerous teams, it also offers numerous tournaments in its name and actively participates in the esport scene (You can get an idea of its empire in this article).
However, 1xBet is:
- decried and banned in many countries.
- banned in UK for promoting a “pornhub casino,” allowing betting on children’s sports and advertising on illegal websites (source).
- declared bankrupt by the Dutch Supreme Court in Curaçao (source).
- taken to court by the Moroccan state (source).
The first step in my investigation began with Krow Bidco AS, a Norwegian company that bought out Heroic’s holdings in the course of 2023. The deal was completed in June — during the Blast Paris Major — with the purchase of all the club’s shares for NOK 56 million, or approximately $5.5 million USD. ULTI Agency assisted in the negotiation, while Wikborg Rein Advokatfirma AS acted as legal advisor to Krow Bidco AS.
At the time of the takeover, Heroic stated: Krow Bidco AS is a Norwegian private limited liability company that is “ultimately fully owned by a regulated EU investment fund”.
Through this takeover, Krow Bidco AS has been able to place a number of people on the club’s board, including Michalis Neokleous and Memnia Papadoupoulou, as well as appointing a new general manager. Ludmila Marochkina has taken over the reins of the organization, and it is here that I discovered some interesting connections.
The trio work for a Cypriot company called DC Sport Soft, according to their public LinkedIn profiles.
The Cyprus Register of Companies confirms this affiliation and adds a certain Ευγενια Ακουλσινα — EVGENIA AKOULSINA to the position of secretary, a name that I will return later.
But it is still important to note that she appears on another company listing — SL 1637 CONSULT AGENCY LTD — with Dmitrii Grigoriev, also a member of the board.
Our latest stop in this investigation takes us to Ludmila Marochkina (actual CEO and chairman of the board, for Heroic), through her multiple companies, listed on the Register of Companies. Named MIRACH LIMITED, L&K GROWTH PARTNERS LIMITED, and STARTRIBE LTD, each time we find her name in the position of director and secretary via her name in Greek — Λουτμιλα Μαροτσκινα or in capital letter version ΛΟΥΤΜΙΛΑ ΜΑΡΟΤΣΚΙΝΑ-.
It is with the latter that it is possible to find a possible affiliation with the Paradise Papers. Ludmila Marochkina is also the director of PALOMBO HOLDINGS LIMITED, a company that is linked to IMPERIUM NOMINEES LIMITED and IMPERIUM SERVICES LIMITED (they are listed in the position of director/secretary and, incidentally, have a potential 300–450 affiliated companies).
These two companies and numerous others are named and listed in the Paradise Papers via the IMPERIUM TOWER in Cyprus. A weak link, but one worth noting between Heroic’s new CEO and this data leak.
The Paradise Papers are a set of over 13.4 million confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investments that were leaked to the German reporters Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer, from the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. The newspaper shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, and a network of more than 380 journalists. Some of the details were made public on 5 November 2017 and stories are still being released.
Paradise Papers explained by Wikipedia.
1xBet and its ties
Back with Ευγενια Ακουλσινα. Here it traces back to a public link with another company called CAPSBOLD LTD. Michalis Neokleous and Memnia Papadoupoulou, members of the Heroic board mentioned earlier in the article, also appear here. Firstly because Memnia still works for this agency according to her LinkedIn, but also because Michalis appears several times in the likes — again on LinkedIn — of some of CAPSBOLD’s posts. But it turns out that this agency has changed its name according to the Cyprus registers. It appears that NINEPANDAS is an ancient name of CAPSBOLD. A certain Dmitrii Chernysh is announced here as director.
Another link between NINEPANDAS -9PANDAS- and CAPSBOLD, besides the name, is DMITRII CHERNYSH. He appears on the one hand as chief development officer of the agency 9PANDAS and is also noted as director of a Cypriot company called CAPSBOLD according to the Registrar of Companies, the same where Ευγενια Ακουλσινα is noted as secretary.
9PANDAS is a very active agency, with numerous partners including 1xBet, 1xStavka, FONBET, Natus Vincere, FC Barcelona, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and more… (Source)
Crunchbase presents 9PANDAS as an agency founded by Sergey Karshkov, a name that comes up a lot when people talk about the creation of 1xBet, to the point of being put on the international wanted list. Karshkov is said to be the founder of the betting site, along with Roman Semiokhin and Dmitry Kazorin.
Sergey Karshkov is reported to have died in June 2023, after a medical check-up in Switzerland, according to numerous articles on the Internet. The Twitter account of the Founder of 9PANDAS has not been active since 13 June 2023.
There is no indication that 1xBet or any “dirty money” was involved in the Heroic takeover or recent dealings, but I think it’s important to note that these links exist. 1xBet, like many other betting sites have become very important within the esport ecosystem and the article is also there to warn of these ties which are growing by the day.
Heroic did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Special thanks to James for his help — https://twitter.com/jfudge —
Sources:
- The owners of Heroic are selling the team while it is playing at BLAST.tv Major Paris 2023; via Bo3.gg: https://bo3.gg/news/heroic-owners-are-selling-the-team-while-it-plays-blast-major-paris-2023
- All about 1xBet in esport (or almost); via Medium: https://cocovlr.medium.com/all-about-1xbet-in-esport-or-almost-5a8fff7d7a25
- Premier League clubs accused over links with betting firm; via The Times: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/premier-league-clubs-accused-over-links-with-betting-firm-sdvw0nwfp
- Sports betting: The Moroccan government lodges a complaint against 1xBet; via Aujourd’hui Le Maroc: https://aujourdhui.ma/une/paris-sportifs-letat-marocain-porte-plainte-contre-1xbet
- Bankrupt and expanding; via Josimar Football: https://josimarfootball.com/2023/01/20/bankrupt-and-expanding/
- While Heroic compete in Paris, the company is in the process of being sold*; via HLTV.org: https://www.hltv.org/news/36292/while-heroic-compete-in-paris-the-company-is-in-the-process-of-being-sold
- NEW OWNERS OF HEROIC SACK HARALDSEN AS CEO; via pley.gg: https://pley.gg/news/new-owners-heroic-sack-haraldsen-ceo
- About Paradise Papers; via The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists: https://www.icij.org/investigations/paradise-papers/
- 1XBet Cofounder Sergey Karshkov Dies in Hospital ‘Mishap’; via Casino.org: https://www.casino.org/news/1xbet-co-founder-sergey-karshkov-dies-in-hospital-mishap/
- Who is behind illegal bookmaker 1xBet and their exclusive interview; via Forbes : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6opMI-H7G8U
- 1xBet Founder Sergey Karshkov died at the age of 42; via Fragster: https://www.fragster.de/1xbet-tycoon-sergey-karshkov-mit-42-jahren-gestorben/
