Private Intelligence Firm Says Evolution Knowingly Allowed Online Casino Games in Illegal Markets

^{The London office of Black Cube, the private intel firm behind new allegations that Evolution’s casino games were available in restricted countries. (Photo: AP Photo / Raphael Satter)}

A 118-page affidavit filed by a private intelligence firm on Monday, Aug. 11 with the New Jersey Supreme Court allegedly included evidence that former and current executives with live dealer games provider Evolution AB knowingly allowed their games to appear at online casinos in countries where gambling is illegal.

The affidavit, filed by private intelligence firm Black Cube, says that executives from Evolution were secretly filmed describing how their games get to nations under sanctions from the United States and jurisdictions where gambling is outlawed.

Author of Evolution Complaint Remains Unknown

The affidavit is related to a defamation lawsuit which Evolution filed in 2024 against law firm Calcagni & Kanefsky (CK). In 2021, CK submitted an anonymous complaint to the New Jersey Department of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE) alleging that Evolution was violating state regulations by operating illegally in some countries, while also doing business in other nations under US sanctions.

Both the NJDGE and the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board looked into the allegations, but each ended those investigations after finding no wrongdoing by Evolution. That led Evolution to file its lawsuit, during which it also sought to unmask the identity of the client behind the complaint.

In April 2025, the New Jersey Supreme Court denied a motion to block that request. In turn, CK revealed that it was Black Cube – an Israeli-based private intelligence company – that had compiled the report. However, the entity that hired Black Cube to investigate Evolution has still yet to be revealed, with CK telling the court that it does not know who commissioned the report.

Videos Show Evolution Games Played in Iran, Syria

Videos submitted along with the affidavit show Black Cube employees playing on Evolution games in Iran as recently as May 2025. The agents show the street outside the building they are playing, which shows Iranian license plates and street signs, and also show that they are not concealing their location via a VPN or by other means. The employees were able to both play and withdraw their winnings from their location. 

The affidavit claims that agents were also able to do so in Syria, with video evidence. Another video allegedly shows Kfir Kugler, Evolution’s commercial director for Africa and Latin America, showing a Black Cube agent a spreadsheet of revenues by country which includes Sudan while saying that the company has players in Syria.

Evolution has dismissed the new affidavit as an attempt to avoid the real issues at play in the defamation lawsuit.

“The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that Black Cube cannot hide behind its lawyers and must face accountability for its unlawful conduct,” an Evolution spokesperson said, according to Next.io. “The affidavit is just another try from Black Cube to shift focus away from the issue of revealing the name of its client.”

The current dispute with CK isn’t the only controversy facing Evolution. In December 2024, the UK Gambling Commission began a review of Evolution’s license after finding Evolution games on unlicensed casinos that were targeting British gamblers. Also in 2024, Evolution employees in the country of Georgia went on strike to protest their work conditions and wages, a strike that led the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 to oppose Evolution’s bid for a Nevada gaming license in a public comment to the Nevada Gaming Control Board.