A 44 year-old man linked to the Swedish version of the Hells Angels accused of “aggravated extortion” may be involved in the murder of PokerListings.com founder Andreas Oscarsson, according to several Swedish news outlets.
In August, Oscarsson was found dead in his Swedish home after taking a trip to the European country with his son. According to Poker.se, “Oscarsson was one of those people who was scheduled to testify in a trial in Stockholm a few weeks.” Purportedly, the Hells Angels member became involved after parties may have attempted to extract $2 million from Oscarsson.
In 2003, Oscarsson sold PokerListings.com to a Swedish company and when that group tried to sell, it found that its value was less following the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in the United States in 2006. Then, extortion allegedly occurred, whereby individuals who may or may not have been associated with the company attempted to recoup some of the lost revenue at the expense of Oscarsson. Stefan Bengtsson was the head of the company that purchased the popular poker information site, but denied any involvement in Oscarsson’s death. He told the Swedish media outlet Aftonbladet, “I do not comment on the investigation, but obviously we had nothing to do with blackmail.”
In addition, Aftonbladet reported that no one associated with Bengtsson’s company was suspected of being involved with the murder of Oscarsson four months ago. The Swedish news outlet added, “Police suspect now that Andreas Oscarsson’s testimony may have been a motive for his murder. But no one has yet been arrested.” The 44 year-old was allegedly going to split any money drawn from Oscarsson; the shareholders would receive the remaining portion of the funds.
Prior to Oscarsson’s murder, another man with the same name was killed in the Swedish town. In addition, according to SpelaCasino.se, “It is also alleged that Oscar’s economic adviser was attacked, shot and wounded in the leg, a crime for which two men subsequently were arrested. The accused man also threatened Adviser via both telephone and SMS, many times.” The UIGEA, attached to the SAFE Port Act, an unrelated port security measure, drove many sites with publicly traded parent companies out of the market, including PartyPoker (owned by Party Gaming), Pacific Poker (owned by 888), and Paradise Poker (owned by Sportingbet).
According to an article published on Poker News Daily last month, the value of Bengtsson’s share of PokerListings.com fell from 50 million Swedish Kronor to 36 million, a slide of nearly 30%. It’s been believed that Oscarsson’s murder was a contract killing, a theory that has been supported by the recent developments in the case. Oscarsson was murdered overnight while his son slept nearby. It wasn’t clear whether or not his son was awake at the time of his father’s death and police had initially questioned the youngster. A father asleep nearby did also not awaken when the murder occurred. Gas was suspected, although it was not clear if it was used to subdue Oscarsson’s father and son.
PokerListings.com currently has reporters dispatched to the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, which kicks off on Monday from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. PokerListings.com staff will then head to the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in January, followed by the WPT Southern Poker Championship. Stay tuned for the latest on the Andreas Oscarsson murder investigation right here on Poker News Daily.