Exclusive: LeoVegas veteran director implicated in Swedish insider trading case
Court cites potential obstruction of justice for detention of three individuals in probe stemming from MGM Resorts’ acquisition
The LeoVegas employee arrested by Swedish authorities in connection with alleged insider trading is the group’s director of corporate finance and investor relations, Philip Doftvik, EGR can exclusively reveal.
Doftvik was detained on 10 November in connection with the allegations, which relate to the online operator’s $604m acquisition by US casino operator MGM Resorts International, first announced in May 2022 and completed four months later.
EGR can exclusively reveal the other individuals detained were Alexander Westerdal and Radomir Danilovic. Neither of the two are directly employed by the Malta-headquartered operator.
Responding to a request for comment on the case against the trio, a spokesperson for the Stockholm District Court confirmed the arrests were made at the request of Swedish Chamber District Attorney Pontus Hamilton.
“According to the court’s decision, there is probable cause for the suspicion of serious insider trading and there is risk that the investigation of this matter will be obstructed unless they are detained,” the spokesperson said.
“The acts are suspected of having been committed in February, March and April by Philip Doftvik, in March and April by Radomir Danilovic and in April by Alexander Westerdal,” the court spokesperson added.
In addition to confirming the timing of the alleged offences, the District Court spokesperson revealed the presence of three other unnamed suspects in the case, individuals who have not been named or detained by authorities at this time.
Philip Doftvik, LeoVegas director of corporate finance and investor relations
Doftvik joined LeoVegas in July 2015, and was later appointed director of corporate finance and investor relations in September 2019. He also serves in the dual role of an investment manager within LeoVegas’ investment firm, LeoVentures.
In this role, Doftvik was responsible for many aspects of corporate finance, including screening investment cases for the company, providing competitive analysis to executive management at the firm and leading all types of corporate finance projects.
He also worked on LeoVegas M&A activities, including LeoVegas’ transition to a public listed entity via IPO, the acquisition of Royal Panda and the move from the Nasdaq First North Premier stock index to the Nasdaq Stockholm main market.
On 7 June, investigators from the Swedish Economic Crime Agency (SECA) conducted an unscheduled visit to LeoVegas offices in Stockholm concerning allegations of insider trading, but the SECA did not confirm the scope of the investigation or if any employees of LeoVegas were responsible.
At the time, LeoVegas confirmed it was assisting authorities in the investigation, but did not provide any further details, save for confirming that none of its employees, members of its management team or board members had been notified of any criminal suspicions against them.
Earlier this week, reports surfaced on Swedish news site Aftonbladet suggesting that one of LeoVegas’ “top managers” along with two other unaffiliated individuals had been detained in the case.
Responding to the article, LeoVegas indeed confirmed that one of its employees had been held in relation to the allegations, reaffirming its own continued cooperation with Swedish authorities in the case.
LeoVegas declined to comment further on the detention of the suspects when approached for comment by EGR.