Robert Gustafsson the Bodog Raid Instigator: Hungry Tigers, Smashed Penises, Oh My
The murky drama surrounding the November raids on Bodog Asia's Manila offices got a little clearer last week after CalvinAyre.com posted a copy of the affidavit that led to the raid. Turns out the affidavit was signed by former Bodog Asia CEO Robert Gustafsson.
“There is little doubt based on this signature that it was Robert (Gustafsson) who helped convince the Philippine police to carry out the raid,” our sources on the ground tell Gambling911.com.
The raid followed weeks of exclusive coverage by the Gambling911.com website of an elaborate embezzlement scheme tied to Bodog and perhaps other Manila-based firms. Bodog officials cite Gustafsson as having involvement in the misappropriation of company funds. While the said raid resulted in the confiscation of millions of dollars worth of computer equipment, ultimately Bodog’s business experienced little in the way of any disruption. In a sad side note, investigators also made off with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of supplies designated for Typhoon Yolanda aide relief.
Our source questions the former Bodog Asia CEO’s motives: “It's less clear what Gustafsson hoped to accomplish from inciting the cops to come after Bodog Asia besides a petty attempt to get back at his former employer for firing him last April based on the incompetence and embezzlement allegations.”
The CalvinAyre.com article also mentioned the difficulties Gustafsson and the other members of his gang -- including another Swedish ex-Bodoger Patrik Selin, Spanish-American spitfire Sylvia ‘Scissorhands' De Guzman and her partner in crime Jasmin Singh -- are having paying back the $3m they borrowed from an unidentified 'power broker.'
“This money was supposed to help Gustafsson set up a payment processing business and an online gambling company built on a stolen copy of the Bodog Asia source code,” the Gambling911.com source insists.
“The Selin/Gustafsson gang never got their hands on the code but they did get their names listed on a growing stack of indictments as the Philippine authorities got wise to their activities.”
Since Gambling911.com and CalvinAyre.com began covering this story extensively, Gustafsson was forced to appear on local Philippine TV insisting the local gambling industry was “full of crooks”. The negative attention may have resulted in Gustafsson’s “money man” to call his loan ahead of schedule.
The CalvinAyre.com article didn't name names but Gambling911's sources have previously suggested former Governor of Philippine province Ilcos Sur Luis ‘Chavit' Singson as the Swedish gang's $3m man. Photos have emerged of Mr. Singson with some of the characters tied to the alleged embezzlement and black market code-grabbing scheme, among them Gustafsson and former Bodog Asia employees Edwin Erfe and Singh.
The so-called "Gangster Governor" has a colorful history that includes helping to deliver millions of dollars of bribes to former Philippine President Joseph Estrada. A local source called Singson “the Filipino version of Don Corleone.” Singson has a tough-guy reputation and has survived several assassination attempts including one where a heavyset woman shielded him from a grenade attack.
“Eleven people were killed, but not me - luckily I was dancing with a fat woman at the time and she took all the shrapnel."
Gustafsson has most certainly angered the folks at Bodog, a company known to have assembled some of the top legal guns. Bodog founder Calvin Ayre has previously utilized the services of New York-based high-power attorney father and son team, Barry and Stuart Slotnick.
But Bodog’s aggressive legal response may be the least of Gustafsson’s problems. Our sources tell us that Singson is not a happy man these days being dragged into this imbroglio. There is some degree of irony here that Singson in some ways could be depicted as a victim of sorts in some warped parallel universe.
He’s known as the “Gangster Governor” for a reason. Singson on occasion has taken the law into his own hands. In a 2010 GQ article about boxer Manny Pacquiao (a Singson buddy), the former Governor bragged to the reporter about beating up his ex-mistress and her new lover, whose penis was said to have been so badly smashed with a hammer it had to be amputated.
Even weirder, the article claimed Singson carries a photo of the damaged dong in his wallet. Maybe Singson will add two more Polaroids to his wallet – one for each of Gustafsson's tiny testicles.
Or maybe Singson will choose a flashier way to show the world that no one gets away with messing with his money. Singson is a noted big-game hunter who celebrated his 72nd birthday last summer by traveling to South Africa's Kalahari Desert, where he shot a male lion and an antelope.
Despite the powers-that-be over at Bodog likely having disdain for Gustafsson, it’s doubtful even they would want to see the heads of Selin, Gustafsson, De Guzman and the rest displayed on the walls of Singson's hunting lodge beside his other trophies. Singson, on the other hand, well…..I mean, we are talking about a guy getting off on smashing another man’s schlong and carrying a photo of the mangled member in his wallet.
But unless Singson's taxidermist can bolt antlers to Gustafsson's ears, disguising the trophy as anything but a tax-dodging visa-spoofing Swedish tourist will be tough. So Gustafsson's highway to hell is more likely to go through the digestive tract of one of the 10 fully grown pussy cats (also known as tigers) Singson keeps at his Baluarte residence in Vigan.
As recently as November – the same month Bodog Asia’s offices were raided – Singson threatened to feed boxer Brandon Rios' conditioning coach Alex Ariza to his tigers over Ariza's attack on Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach in Macau.
Gufstafsson and his gang probably didn't think they were biting off more than they could chew when they hatched the plot Bodog officials are now alleging. It looks, however, like Gustafsson and company are the ones who could wind up getting chewed.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
