Gibraltar Issues an Arrest Warrant for Former Mansion Group CEO
Gibraltar has issued a formal arrest warrant for Mansion Group’s ex-CEO on embezzlement charges.
Key Facts:
- Arrest warrant issued in Gibraltar for Mansion Group’s ex-CEO
- Karel Manasco has been accused of embezzling the company’s funds
- He failed to attend a court hearing, instead making a statement through his solicitor
Karel Manasco, ex-CEO of Mansion Group, has been accused of embezzling money from the company. A warrant for his arrest has been issued in Gibraltar following a court hearing on Wednesday, April 9th, that Manasco should have attended but didn’t.
The hearing was an arranged sentencing for contempt of court. Instead of appearing, Manasco said that his solicitor read on his behalf. The former CEO has made several complaints about the case.
Complaints and Charges
Manasco argued three key points through the statement read out by his solicitor. These are as follows:
- Chief Justice Dudley, the judge in charge of the case, has been biased against Manasco throughout the whole case
- GBC News’ reporting has also been biased against him
- Both the Mansion Group and the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority have been involved in a conspiracy against him
As for the actual embezzlement charges, 14 payments totalling €2.5 million were made by Manasco to a company called White Wizard Media between August 10th 2018 and June 13th 2019. There was also a consultancy firm payment of £127,073.
It’s been claimed by Mansion Group that these payments were in fact transferred to various offshore accounts in Manasco’s name. Apparently, White Wizard Media didn’t provide Mansion Group with any kind of services.
Manasco was subsequently ordered in September 2024 by the Supreme Court to pay the two amounts embezzled (€2.5 million and £127,073) to Mansion Group. He had previously had £5 million worth of assets frozen after paying himself unearned bonuses.
It’s the freezing of his assets that Manasco claims led to hostility and antipathy towards him in further court appearances. He also believes this is where the bias against him by the judge in charge of the case began.
The recent court appearance that he missed was about breaches of his asset freeze. This was deemed to be contempt of court. His lack of attendance at this important hearing will complicate matters further.
It’s since been confirmed that Manasco’s sentencing for contempt of court has been adjourned to May 14th. Whether the former CEO will appear at this hearing remains to be seen.
About Mansion Group
Mansion Group has been struggling over the last few years. The company previously operated three online casinos, MansionCasino, SlotsHeaven and Casino.com, and a sportsbook. It had even managed to secure a sponsorship deal with Bristol City.
However, various problems in 2020 resulted in the company closing its UK sportsbook and focusing on its casino brands. The issues included complications arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and fallouts among management staff.
Closing down the sportsbook also meant terminating the sponsorship deal with Bristol City. A few years later, in January 2023, the company closed all of its UK online casinos while kept its international operations going.
Then, in October 2023, the company shut down all of its remaining online casinos. Since then, no one in any country has been able to access a Mansion Group site and gamble there for real money. There’s no telling if operations will ever resume.
