Quebec securities watchdog seized computers of three Amaya staffers

Investigators probing unusual stock trades ahead of Amaya Gaming’s acquisition of PokerStars have seized computers belonging to three Amaya employees.

On Wednesday, a Quebec judge overturned a publication ban on the search warrant executed in December by the Canadian province’s financial market watchdog, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF).

The documents reveal the AMF was interested in the dealings of 20 individuals employed at Amaya, Manulife Securities Inc. and Canaccord Genuity Corp. The latter two companies played key roles in facilitating Amaya’s $4.9b acquisition of the Rational Group – whose assets included PokerStars and Full Tilt – last June.

The AMF believes some individuals improperly disseminated confidential info ahead of the Rational acquisition. The names of these individuals have been redacted from the warrant, making it unclear how these individuals are related to Amaya. However, Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper reported that the AMF seized computers, memory cards, other storage devices and documents utilized by the three Amaya employees.