Journalists leak data from over 1,000 Curaçao casinos after regulator hack

Journalists leaked a database containing over 40,000 documents from more than 1,000 Curaçao-registered casinos and gambling firms. The documents include financial plans, audits, business structures, and funding sources. Lilith Wittmann said she worked with journalists from NDR, NRK, SVT, and Follow the Money. Wittmann said the group extracted almost 2 terabytes of data from gambling authorities in Curaçao and Malta. The group reportedly exhausted other journalistic methods before taking that action. The group said it acted on the basis of an overriding public interest. Wittmann's site says the findings identify people behind thousands of illegal online casinos. The site also says the findings show who profits from the system and how the illegal gambling industry expands despite government regulation and bans. The Curaçao Gaming Authority disclosed a hack last week without providing further details. Onlookers had speculated that the hack could lead to a data leak. The affected crypto casinos include Rollbit, 1xBet, Stake, and Roobet. X user halfretired0 used the database to identify Daniel Dixon, also known as Lucky, as Rollbit's owner. Dixon has been linked to a 2016 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive scandal involving predetermined dice rolls. X suspended halfretired0 when the information was published. Leaked documents say Tether.bet, operating under the domain GT Holdings B.V., lists Hon Kong Yong as its beneficial owner. The documents say funding for Tether.bet came partly from the $3.7 million sale of Yong's London flat to Peter A. Fanconi. Fanconi is the chairman of BlueOrchard Finance. Yong was reportedly influential in helping George Cottrell enter a corporate finance network in the City of London. Cottrell was allegedly operating under a false identity at the time.