This story was published more than 7 years ago.
In news that has shocked industry insiders over the weekend, it has emerged that the formerly respected Club World group of casinos has been linked to criminal operator AffPower after an acrimonious change of management.
The casinos run by this management are as follows:
This previously well regarded group of casinos had been subject to an ongoing legal dispute over ownership and distribution of income between three brothers and shareholders from the Cheshire based Ferster family. The dispute came to a head in November 2016 with the two eldest brothers and silent partners, Warren Dennis Ferster and Stuart Jeffrey Ferster, winning a legal judgement against their younger brother and long-time head of the casino group's operating company Interactive Technology Corporation Limited. Company filings note that Jonathan Ferster had his position as a director of the company terminated on 24 November 2016.
Earlier in the year, the dispute made headlines in UK legal circles after the elder brothers failed in an appeal to prevent the tabling of an email at an arbitration hearing concerning the ownership issue. They had sent the email in an attempt to blackmail their younger brother into buying their share of the company for an inflated purchase price above market value. The attempt was unsuccessful but nevertheless after the November judgement the younger Ferster brother was ousted, leaving the company in the hands of his elder siblings. Neither has any experience in running a casino, with both having built their fortunes running an industrial plastics products company Coral Products PLC that they founded in 1989 with their father Chaim. The pair ostensibly retired from Coral Products in 2014, though the court describes their departure as "not entirely voluntary" .
Taking over a successful online casino operation that runs nine brands while having no experience in the industry is doubtless a daunting task. According to current and former staff at the group, the brothers Ferster made the seemingly sensible decision to bring in some outside advisers to form an "external management team" in order to lend the experience that they are sorely lacking. However this is where things start to look very concerning for players. We have been informed that the external advisers are an Israeli group that are also responsible for the execrable AffPower group of casinos, which also operates under the labels of Conan Gaming and a bunch of Curacao registered shelf companies including Game Tech Group N.V. and Alpha Interactive Solutions N.V., among others. This information has been corroborated by respected player advocacy forum CasinoMeister, which also notes that affiliates of the casino group have already started complaining of delayed payments, "shaved" commissions, and reporting discrepancies.
This is a massive concern for players that patronise these casinos. AffPower have been implicated in a string of unethical and outright criminal activities in recent times, and have held a prominent spot on our casino blacklist for several years now. Some of the "lowlights" of this rogue group's conduct include:
While hearing of an acrimonious family dispute like this is concerning and more than a little sad for all involved, it would be ultimately irrelevant if the casinos continued to be run professionally. With that in mind, since being made aware of the ownership change a few months ago we have been watching this group closely to see if the new management could hit the ground running and continue on the same path as their brother's previous management. Sadly it appears that the new ownership, whether they be unwitting dupes or deliberately foolish, have placed their casinos firmly in the sights of anyone that advocates for fair play and treatment of casino patrons by inviting a bunch foxes into their henhouse. We are aware that several key operational staff members have resigned from their positions in protest at the conduct of the new management who, by all accounts, seem determined to continue on their present course.
The bottom line is that Casino Listings can no longer recommend these casinos as safe places to play. We strongly recommend that players cease playing at each of the following casinos until such time that we can verify that this group of casinos is no longer under the influence of one of the most poorly regarded criminal elements in this industry.
| Casino | Jurisdiction | Rating | Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aladdin's Gold Casino | Curaçao | Play | |
| All Star Slots | Curaçao | Play | |
| Buzzluck Casino | Curaçao | Play | |
| Club World Casino | Curaçao | Play | |
| High Noon Casino | Curaçao | Play | |
| Lucky Red Casino | Curaçao | Play | |
| Manhattan Slots | Curaçao | Play | |
| ReelSpin Casino | Curaçao | ||
| Slotter Casino | Curaçao |
 Roaring 21 Casino | Play |
 Slots.lv | Play |
 Everygame Casino | Play |
 Casino Extreme | Play |
 Slotland | Play |
 Bovada Casino | Play |
Comments
Don't you think there might be other impropriety going on here that we could be unaware of?
It does sound like a quest for revenge however well respected the operator was in the industry.
The judge sided strongly with the brothers, and considering he defrauded his own brothers who knows what other lengths he would go to?
The Club World Group of casinos was to me the best among casinos that catered to US players. Last year, I noticed a change in the entire industry where, for example, groups like Jackpot Capital started offering incredible bonus deposit offers at the same time reducing player odds significantly.
Another change that I regretted was the fact that many of these casinos used only one payment processor which restricted player's payment to one check per week even if the checks were issued by different casinos.
It seemed to me during that time that the Club World Group was the only line of casinos that had not changed much. With CL's news that this is no longer the case. I wonder where the industry goes from here when it comes to US players.
It has been three weeks since I have played at a casino and unfortunately don't see myself continuing gaming if circumstances don't change.
hope777
This is quite sad to hear that they have been linked with rogue operator. It appears that maybe they will become more untrustworthy but let's hope for the best.
It's incredibly sad to see the best US friendly casinos going down the crapper. High Noon and Aladdin's Gold were the first two casinos I ever played at, and this is kind of the end of an era in my eyes. I think for me it's going to be Casino Extreme and Bovada as the only sites I'll be playing at now...
hope777
Firstly this post isn't half as clever as you think it is. It transparently reads like you're "in the know" and deliberately attempting to cast aspersions and/or sow doubt about one side of the case. I think it is pretty clear who you are, or at least who you are working for. That being said I will address your comment.
Anything is possible but your post is unfounded speculation with no evidence to back it up. Feel free to come back and provide some evidence to support what you are saying, but somehow I don't think we'll hear from you again.
I don't think anyone in this case comes out of it looking good. The judge found that the brother forced out was diverting profits to himself in contravention of the shareholdings and ownership agreements, and that he lied and was an unreliable witness. The incoming brothers attempted to blackmail him and made threats against his partner, and were also described by the judge as liars and unreliable. Its a sad story all round.
I am hopeful that the situation can be fixed but for the time being the responsible thing to do is warn people that this could quickly turn to crap, more so than it has already.
Our major concerns which are of most relevance for players is firstly the people who have been brought in to assist in the running of the casinos, and secondly the resignation of most senior staff in the business who have all the experience in running the operation. You probably could not find a worse bunch of crooks anywhere in the world of online gambling at this point in time than AffPower. Their own casinos are an organised scam and they have proven time and again that they are willing to go to any lengths, including criminal actions, in order to promote their casinos and suck in new victims. They are not someone I would want associated with any casino that I was playing at and seeing as most of the senior management there have resigned the crooks are now running the show.
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Oh, wow! Now this is a very surprising turn of events. Goes to show we cannot trust anyone or any business/casino and so on. That is really sad to read, because these casinos have long been respected and favorites of many. I almost could not believe the headline! And just getting rid of this group truly limits the options for where us poor U.S. players can play. 😢
It is really sad especially for US players as I know there aren't that many places to play at.
This is a very shocking story. The disputes between brothers have revealed the ugly parts of the once-trusted casino and led to the hand of a bunch of criminals.
Wow, now I roughly guess over half of RTG casinos are blacklisted.
OMG, I guess I did comment on this and completely forgot. So much for Hope's memory. lol
This is a big hit for us U.S. players, since options are already limited, and this was a trustworthy group for many years. Too bad.