Laila Mintas Hits Back at Accusations That She Botched PlayUp’s $450M Sale

Laila Mintas finally decided to speak up on the recent fallout that she had with PlayUp on a botched $450 million sale. PlayUp was quick to replace her and even took legal action. However, Mintas denied the accusations that she was responsible for the failed sale and claimed that PlayUp’s global CEO was actually responsible for those events.

Mintas Accused Daniel Simic In A 145-Page Filling

As the 145-page filling by Mintas states, Daniel Simic, PlayUp’s global CEO was responsible for the sale that went sideways. As she explains, he became greedy and asked FTX, which is the company that wanted to buy PlayUp, to pay $170 million more.

Moreover, Mintas accused PlayUp of “tarnishing her reputation” with the recent lawsuit and said that the company’s actions are the reason why she cannot find a job elsewhere. Not only that, but the legal proceedings are also preventing Mintas and her family from moving to the Bahamas.

Mintas states that FTX agreed to pay $450 million to purchase PlayUp, but Simic wanted an additional $105 million for PlayChip and $65 million for retaining valuable personnel. The 145-page filing had 25 pages in which she made a response to the claims against her, while the other 120 pages had supporting documents such as emails and messages.

One of the emails is an email from Ramnik Arora, FTX’s head of product, which was sent on November 24. The recipients of the email were Simic and Michael Costa, the CTO and co-founder of PlayUp Global and the email states that there are four concerns that led to FTX backing out from the purchase.

Those concerns included lack of communication and mistrust between the US and global operations, conflict with initiatives such as PlayChip and the fact that US key personnel wasn’t a part of the company’s future plans.

Mintas said that she wanted to bring the deal back to life, but that would’ve been only possible if she replaced Simic. In the response, Mintas said that Simic’s “unreasonable and unethical demands” led to the fallout.

Simic Was Allegedly Blacklisted in Australia

In an email that dates back to November 25, Mintas revealed that she was in touch with FTX. Not only that, but she added that it was brought to her attention that Simic was actually blacklisted in Australia, which was something that could lead to key PlayUp officials losing their licenses.

That is when Ashley Kerr, the general counsel of PlayUp, ordered her to cease communicating with external parties. On the following day, she sent an email to Richard Sapsford, Costa and Simic in which she said that it is “interesting” how PlayChip was a significant shareholder in PlayUp, even though the company was bankrupt.

She also added that it would be an interesting case for Australian and American regulators. That is why Mintas argued that the only way to salvage the situation is to terminate Simic and appoint her as the Global CEO.

Mintas shared that she found out that she was terminated as US CEO and board member via an email sent by Kerr last Wednesday. To make things even muddier, Mintas had a separate affidavit in which she stated that she invested $1.2 million in the company and did not receive her salary for a full year.