Over a year has passed since the murder of the PokerListings founder Andreas Oscarsson, with no one charged for the killing and plenty of questions still unanswered.
Poker News Daily reported on the story last year in which Oscarsson – with his young son beside him – was shot six times as he laid sleeping in his bed on August 3rd, 2009. Neither his son nor Oscarsson’s father, who was also in the home, were harmed during the attack, leaving many to believe that Oscarsson’s murder was a contract killing. Since that time, a Swedish outlet has followed the story and recently presented their findings.
A translated version of the story that appeared on TwoPlusTwo details the path that Oscarsson took to reach his pinnacle in the poker industry. After starting PokerListings in 2003 with funds from venture capitalists, the company had shown remarkable progress. In 2004, PokerListings grossed 13 million Kronor and made a net profit of 4.5 million. In 2005, the company showed unbelievable net profits of 55 million Kronor on 92 million gross. 2006 saw Oscarsson report to his shareholders a 120 million Kronor profit on 195 million in gross revenue.
The article states that it seems the backers were happy with the performance, but wanted to audit PokerListings to see where the money was coming from. The backers, a company called Ekstranda and led in discussions with Oscarsson by Stefan Bengtsson, hired an auditing firm that ultimately suggested they should sell their minority stake in PokerListings. The deal was on the table when the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) hit in late 2006.
After contentious negotiations, Oscarsson was able to negotiate Ekstranda’s buyout price down to 36 million Kronor from its opening of 50 million. The 14 million Kronor left on the table became a sore point for someone, allegedly an attorney with Ekstranda, which led to a possible plot to extort the money. In 2007, Oscarsson’s tax attorney was attacked and shot outside his home, with a 19 year old convicted in the incident.
Over the time span after that, Oscarsson kept PokerListings private, instead of staging an IPO, and dealt with issues regarding child custody with his former wife. On the business side, PokerListings continued to do well. 2008 saw the company, after an initial drop due to the effects of the UIGEA, almost rebound to the period prior to the U.S. law. On August 3rd, 2009, Jan Oscarsson found his son murdered, with the intruder gaining entrance through a bathroom window.
Since Oscarsson’s murder, the case has basically gone cold. Although Poker News Daily reported soon after Oscarsson’s murder that a man with ties to Sweden’s version of the Hell’s Angels was of interest in the case, there are currently no suspects, according to the Swedish article. Oscarsson’s former tax attorney lives in an undisclosed location and will not talk about the case. The 19 year old convicted in his shooting was sentenced to almost 2.5 years in jail and should be close to his release date. The attorney for Ekstranda was fired by the company in 2007 and now lives outside of Sweden.
Although there have been allegations of Oscarsson’s murder being a contract killing, there is no evidence to support those allegations, police say. With no suspects currently being pursued, it appears possible that the Swedish public, as well as the poker community, will never know who killed Andreas Oscarsson.
