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Behind every story of wealth, is a great crime. When a Kenyan startup by the name of SportPesa went throwing wards of cash to foreign clubs, it left everyone baffled.
Do Kenyans bet that much? How did this happen in the first place? (THREAD)
Do Kenyans bet that much? How did this happen in the first place? (THREAD)
In March 2014, the Bulgarian Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Slavi Binev was on an official visit to Kenya.
While there, Binev lauded the launch of the mobile platform for bets of one of the largest companies in the sector SportPesa, owned by Bulgarians.
While there, Binev lauded the launch of the mobile platform for bets of one of the largest companies in the sector SportPesa, owned by Bulgarians.
Official reports, however, withheld information about who were exactly the Bulgarians that created SportPesa, and for a good reason.
SportPesa Director is Gerasim Nikolov. He is “one of the main organizers of credit card draining in the world”, according to experts from the National Security Agency (DANS).
Gerasim Nikolov lives in Nairobi, where he accepts entire brigades, formed in Bulgaria, to steal money from foreign bank cards. He has been investigated for years over the notorious racketeering/credit-card fraud, together with another criminal nicknamed “The Baron”.
Recent manoeuvres by Sport Pesa have left the industry worried about Bulgarian mobs controlling the unregulated football industry in Kenya.
For instance, when Betway launched a sponsorship in Kenya with local club AFC Leopards, Sport Pesa quickly used their influence to bribe members of the Sports Tribunal to swiftly cancel Betway’s deal and replaced it with Sport Pesa’s.
To help execute this fraud, Sport Pesa are said to have infiltrated the top echelons of Kenyan Premier League, by dispatching bribes to senior Governors through KPL Chief Executive Officer Jack Oguda.
SportPesa’s strategy is to inherit the network that campaigned for Nick Mwendwa, by buying them out and triggering an emergency board meeting that will see him deposed and they in-turn installing Ronald Karauri as the new FKF President, thereby gaining control of the industry.
To date, SportPesa maintains a close partnership with the Sports Journalists Association of Kenya (SJAK).
Leading sports journalists are “sponsored” on trips to Europe, put on a monthly retainer and showered with gifts and cash-incentives to ensure that the brand name remains on mainstream media wires.
Using adverts portraying betting as an economic activity, Sport Pesa endeared itself to the masses, baiting them using narratives creating the picture of wealth from wins.
