Curaçao Leak Shows Stake Licensed Before Ownership Was Resolved

^{Leaked Curaçao Gaming Authority files show Stake's Curaçao entity was licensed before regulators resolved who really owned it. (Photo: Willemstad, Curaçao / Wikimedia Commons)}

Leaked licensing files from the Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA) show that Medium Rare N.V., the Curaçao-registered entity behind crypto casino Stake, was granted a gambling licence while regulators were still trying to establish who actually controlled the company, according to an investigation published by Follow the Money on 22 September 2026.

The Dutch investigative outlet says the material comes from tens of thousands of confidential licensing documents obtained after Berlin-based security researcher Lilith Wittmann accessed the CGA's licensing portal. Follow the Money is publishing its findings, titled Casino Secrets, together with media partners in Norway, Germany, Austria and Sweden.

What the Leaked Files Show

According to the investigation, records filed with the CGA list Serbian national Mladen Vuckovic as the owner of Medium Rare N.V., with a 2024 personal history disclosure showing declared assets of more than $1 billion. Follow the Money reports that the regulator's own review identified around 646 entities where ownership or the source of an owner's wealth could not be clearly established, with Stake's licence cited as one example where questions were still open when the permit was issued.

Follow the Money: 'The files show that Curaçao's gambling regulator routinely granted licences without establishing whether the declared owners were actually in charge, and despite applicants failing to provide important information.'

Separate to the Regulator's Own Breach Disclosure

The CGA confirmed in a statement issued on 17 September 2026 that it had identified unauthorised access to its online licensing portal, the system operators use to apply for and hold licences. The regulator said the access had since been contained and its source identified, though it has not detailed the full scope of information viewed.

Curaçao licenses thousands of gambling websites through a franchise-style master licence system that has long drawn criticism from regulators elsewhere for making it difficult to identify who ultimately controls a given operator. Several jurisdictions, including Australia and multiple European regulators, have separately blacklisted Curaçao-registered brands over unlicensed activity or anti-money laundering failures.

What This Means for Players and Operators

Regulators that take a stricter line on ownership disclosure, such as Sweden's Spelinspektionen, have shown a willingness to suspend or fine operators over licensing violations once ownership concerns surface. The Curaçao leak is likely to renew scrutiny of how offshore licensing regimes verify beneficial ownership before granting a permit, particularly for crypto-currency casinos that operate with less conventional banking oversight.

Casinos.com has contacted Stake for comment on the ownership questions raised in the investigation and will update this story with any response. The full Follow the Money investigation, Curaçao's secretive gambling industry exposed in leak, is available on its website.

Follow the Money says it is publishing its findings in coordination with the researcher who obtained the documents and media partners in four other European countries, a structure that mirrors previous cross-border leak investigations into offshore financial secrecy. The scale of the material, described as tens of thousands of documents covering hundreds of licensed companies, means further findings from the leak are likely to surface in the coming weeks as reporters work through the files.