Neuberger Berman Investor Denied Details of Probe re 888 Holdings
A three-judge panel found that Benjamin Gamoran, a Neuberger Berman investor, is not entitled to see the full details of a probe the asset manager's board of directors performed into the late 2005 acquisitions of 888 Holdings PLC and Neteller PLC, according to Law360.com.
Neuberger Berman LLC’s investment in online gambling companies that accepted wagers from those living within the US reportedly caused around $30 million in losses. 888 Holdings was still conducting business in the United States up until 2008.
The original claim asserted that in this case all concern the Fund defendants’ purchase of
online payment processor NETeller Plc (“NETeller”) and 888 Holdings Plc (“888”) stock on the London Stock Exchange in 2005 and 2006, those businesses, in the period in question, received a substantial share of their revenue from bets placed by United States residents.
The plaintiff claimed that the Fund defendants’ ownership of NETeller and 888 stock violated 18 U.S.C. § 1955(a), which imposes federal felony liability on whoever “conducts, finances, manages, supervises, directs, or owns all or part of an illegal gambling business.” The Fund defendants’ allegedly illegal stock ownership constitutes the predicate acts for plaintiff’s civil RICO claims under 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c) and (d), as well as the acts underlying plaintiff’s state-law claims.
Both companies lost a significant portion of their market share after pulling out of the US market, primarily a result of US Government actions against Neteller.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
