A troublesome period
The former chief executive of Mansion Group has been hit with a £5m ($6m) global assets freeze order. Gibraltar Courts Service Chief Justice Anthony Dudley issued the order to Karel Christian Mañasco, on Tuesday.
claiming that Mañasco had breached his duties
The first sign of trouble came in September 2021 when Mansion suspended Mañasco at the beginning of an internal investigation into his actions. Mañasco stepped down as CEO in December 2021. Mansion then filed a claim in the Gibraltar courts in 2022 seeking damages, claiming that Mañasco had breached his duties.
Some of the startling specifics
The claim detailed some of Mansion’s grievances, including paying bonuses to himself of £288,111 ($346,154) and £427,500 ($513,625) in 2019 and 2020. He took £66,237 ($79,581) of personal allowance payments to which he wasn’t actually entitled.
There were also over €2.5m ($2.65m) in payments made to a Marshall Islands-incorporated company called White Wizard Media. Mansion, though, did not receive any known services from this company. Mañasco also allegedly failed to adhere to measures the Gibraltar gambling regulator had outlined, which led to the company receiving an £850,000 ($1m) fine.
have Mansion buy expensive cars and luxury watches for no particular reason
Mañasco even went so far as to have Mansion buy expensive cars and luxury watches for no particular reason. Other allegations related to significant sums he spent on corporate credit card payments, rent, legal fees, and even £14,756 ($17,729) for a domain name that was of no use to Mansion.
Fighting the allegations
Despite the extensive claims outlined by Mansion, Mañasco completely denied all of the allegations. He explained that as the CEO, he had the ability to order and oversee each of the transactions that were described by his former employer. He maintains that he always acted in the business’s best interests.
Ultimately, the judge sided with Mansion, leading to the £5m asset freeze on Mañasco. When handing down his judgment, Judge Dudley described Mañasco’s actions as dishonest and of low standards of morality. He also said that an asset freeze is the “court’s nuclear weapon,” but that it was just in this particular case. Mañasco plans to contest the ruling.
