According to reports, the brand claims Mintas worked to undermine a $450m takeover attempt by the cryptocurrency exchange FTX. As a result of this legal action, the courts have granted PlayUp a temporary restraining order against Mintas.
When Gaming America reached out to Mintas for comment, she vehemently refuted these claims, stating: “I am a major shareholder in PlayUp as of today and invested 7-figures of my own savings into the company. It makes no sense that I would have made any of those comments that are quoted in the filing or tried to destroy a deal to sell PlayUp as I would have benefitted from that as well as all other shareholders. All the claims mentioned in the fillings are wrong and my lawyers are working on filling shortly my response to those claims to tell the true story based on written evidence.”
“I cannot comment on every detail right now as it would force me to make negative comments about the Australian leadership which I have to restrain from because of my former employment contract and now the court order they put on me,” Mintas continued.
“Over the last 2 years, I built the PlayUp USA business from scratch, having been the US CEO of PlayUp and the only person on the ground for the first almost 1 ½ years. I built a great team on the ground, got PlayUp US live in Colorado and New Jersey and got PlayUp market access in many states which led to PlayUp USA often called 'the sleeping giant' in our industry. My hard work has created a valuation of over $400m alone because of the US market.
“The company is in possession of an FTX email stating the facts of why FTX rejected the deal which I will submit to the court which clearly outlines the reasons on the Australian side of the leadership team as the deal breaker. If someone tries to prevent you from speaking to the US regulators, that says everything,” she concluded.
While information at this point is limited, PlayUp promptly rejected the suggestions made by Mintas, claiming any legal action taken was in an effort to safeguard the interests of the company. The sports betting group refused to make any further comment due to the matter presently being before the courts.
Gaming America will continue to report on this story as more information comes to light.