A major hack has reportedly peeled back the curtain on one of the world’s most controversial online gambling hubs.
Major European media outlets have published investigations based on business and registration records obtained through unauthorized access to the Curaçao Gaming Authority’s online portal. The journalism comes as U.S. authorities have long targeted many Curaçao-registered gambling sites.
Follow The Money, based in the Netherlands, reported that its analysis identified 24 Americans among people connected to Curaçao gambling companies as current or former “ultimate beneficial owners” (UBOs).
The report named only one of those Americans — Nicholas Beugg, the co-owner of Prolific Trade N.V., the Curaçao company behind online casino Blaze.com. Beugg, the son of film producer Michael Beugg, reportedly owns the company alongside Dutch national Nick van Gorsel.
Curaçao, a Caribbean island, is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Follow the Money says its journalists verified 897 UBO records. They represented 767 individuals across 646 Curaçao gambling entities. It’s apparently only part of the trove. Next.io reported that Lilith Wittmann, the German activist behind the hack, plans to release the full list of UBOs.
Why It Matters
For years, state-level officials have called on the federal government to crack down on offshore online gambling. Meanwhile, Curaçao has emerged as a leading hub in the offshore market.
In August 2025, a coalition of state attorneys general urged the DOJ to act on offshore gambling firms taking bets from Americans, arguing that federal enforcement had been lacking since 2013.
In recent years, states have taken a whack-a-mole approach. They’ve used cease-and-desist orders and related actions to respond. Some offshore entities have complied; others have not.
The recent leaks raise new questions for the U.S. debate over offshore gambling. Who are the American beneficial owners of Curaçao-registered operators? What political connections do they have in the U.S.?
One major Curaçao-linked gambling company is Stake, although the leaked records do not identify one of the 24 Americans as its registered UBO. Stake co-founder Bijan Tehrani, a U.S. citizen based in Australia, has emerged as a significant U.S. political donor.
The Australian, citing Federal Election Commission records, reported that Tehrani donated $1 million to a super PAC supporting President Donald Trump. Trump has also posted imagery featuring the Stake logo on Truth Social.
