Crésus Casino CEO Faces Illegal Gambling Charges

Grégoire Auzoux, the CEO of Crésus Casino, along with another individual, has been charged with operating an illegal gambling operation and is currently in custody. The professional poker player was apprehended and later released by French anti-organized crime police in mid-September after his offshore site was accused of catering to the French market.

Grégoire Auzoux Charged With Running an Illegal Gambling and Money Laundering Scheme

Investigations uncovered fund transfers exceeding EUR 100 million ($117 million) between 2022 and 2025, with authorities suspecting money laundering through the business. On October 9, Auzoux and another individual were presented before a judge in Paris and faced charges including illegal gambling, involvement in an organized crime group, unlawfully providing online gaming, and money laundering.

We reported earlier that the companies behind the website are said to have generated nearly EUR 1 billion (around $1.17 billion) in revenue over the past five years. Some of the companies involved in Auzoux’s online casino operations include Casino-Prive, Lucky 8, Jackpot Bob, and Olympe Casino.

It should be noted that Auzoux and his alleged accomplice were not the site’s owners, as previous reports had indicated, but rather the operational masterminds behind the operation. Hired in 2021, the CEO earned a substantial EUR 70,000 (around $82,000) per month. During a raid on his residence by Cypriot police, authorities discovered not only large sums of cash but also EUR 90,000 (approximately $105,000) in cryptocurrency, which authorities say was used in money laundering schemes.

Jake Pollard, citing anonymous sources, reported on the Gaming&Co Substack today that Auzoux’s downfall stemmed from “hubris” and “arrogance.” According to the sources, Auzoux proceeded to launch a second site after the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), the regulatory body responsible for protecting citizens from unlicensed operators, ordered the blocking of the Cresuscasino.com domain.

How Was the Investigation Conducted?

The investigation, which forms part of broader Europol efforts targeting cross-border cybercrime, dates back to July 2024. It began when dissatisfied players alerted ANJ about Cresus Casino. What followed resembled a digital cat-and-mouse chase. 

Although Cresus was officially registered in Cyprus and Curacao, it quickly escalated by creating multiple mirror sites. When authorities blocked cresuscasino.com, the operators swiftly launched a clone site and sent SMS messages with links to French users. Web traffic analysis provided the key evidence: nearly 100% of the site’s visitors came from French IP addresses, with the site receiving over a million visits each month.

According to a Eurojust press release, the organization emphasized that, due to the cross-border nature of the online gambling site’s activities, cooperation between authorities was vital in dismantling the gambling network. As a result, searches were conducted in Cyprus and Malta, hearings were held, and asset freezes were implemented, all facilitated by Eurojust’s support.