A controversy has broken out in Germany concerning allegations in the magazine Der Spiegel that Paul Gauselmann, head of the country’s leading machine manufacturing group, had been involved in a plot to defraud and thereby discredit the equipment of main rival Löwen Automaten, a subsidiary of Novomatic.
The allegations, regarded as absurd by most objective observers, were published in the magazine – known for its sensational editorial attitudes towards the gaming industry – on Friday.
The publication suggested that Paul Gauselmann had conspired with a known expert in machine manipulation – named only as “Ali T” in the press reports, but InterGame has discovered that his name is, allegedly, Ali Tas – to run major frauds on operating Löwen machines.
Der Spiegel produced as evidence part of a secretly recorded conversation between Tas and Gauselmann from 2007 that suggests the conspiracy existed.
As a result of the sensational report, Löwen has suggested to Paul Gauselmann that he suspend his presidency of the industry trade association, the VDAI, until the matter is fully explored. The subject came to light after an intensive police investigation into machine fraud in which Tas was arrested. The allegations against Paul Gauselmann were then made by Der Spiegel.
This week the Gauselmann Group moved quickly to deny the allegations and asserted that it had previously co-operated fully with its rival to protect all machines in the industry from fraud.
InterGame has discovered that historically there were no fewer than four periods during which there had been extensive bouts of defrauding of Löwen machines, usually by the use of illegal electronic codes. It appears that throughout those periods, Gauselmann Group had actively exchanged information with Löwen on any activities discovered by criminal elements.
Paul Gauselmann had not denied the secretly recorded interview with Tas. In fact the interview shows that Paul Gauselmann had sought to establish the degree to which the industry was being defrauded and the methods used. It was a small part of this conversation that was taken out of context in the Der Spiegel report. It also appears that the Gauselmann Group made the content of the interview known to Löwen several years ago.
The controversy was one of the main talking points of the first major international get-together since the revelations – the FER trade show in Madrid – where we found Jürgen Stühmeyer, a main board director at the Gauselmann Group.
Asked to comment, Stühmeyer said: “The matter is being investigated and we will continue to work – as we always have – to bring these criminal activities to an abrupt halt. As for Mr Gauselmann’s involvement and the rather sensational reports in Der Spiegel, I think we should leave those to be judged by the industry; I believe that the outcome will hold some surprises!”
