Crypto casino billionaire's father's mansion in 'suspicious' fire

SMH ·

A luxury beachside trophy home owned by the father of Australia’s youngest billionaire caught fire just weeks after a local council approved a $30 million renovation of the property. The $16 million, 15-bedroom, 15-bathroom estate owned by Jamie Craven, a convicted fraudster and father of crypto casino kingpin Ed Craven, went up in flames on Tuesday night, with police treating the incident as “suspicious”. In a statement, NSW Police said that emergency services were called to the property on Coachmans Close, Korora, just north of Coffs Harbour, at 5.40pm on Tuesday, with Fire and Rescue NSW working to extinguish the blaze. They were called to the house again just before midnight following reports of a second blaze, which is believed to have been self-reignited. The news was first reported by regional television station NBN. “The property was abandoned and unoccupied, and there have been no reports of injuries. Officers attached to Coffs/Clarence Police District have commenced an investigation into the incident,” NSW Police said. “The fire is being treated as suspicious and inquiries continue.” There is no suggestion the Cravens are under any suspicion relating to the fire. Neighbours told NBN News vandalism had been an issue in the area. “The crews from last night did report that the majority of the windows had been smashed, the house is vandalised, the garden’s obviously not been maintained, so there’s no one there,” Scott O’Shea from Fire and Rescue told the station. The 1.8-hectare compound, known as Noorinya, was purchased by Craven’s corporate interests for $16 million cash in 2024 from Nathan Tinkler, the colourful coal baron turned discharged bankrupt . The price was around half the $30 million Tinkler wanted when the property was listed. Last year, Craven launched plans for a $29.7 million renovation of the property with the City of Coffs Harbour Council, intending to demolish the existing house and build a new two-storey mansion with two in-ground swimming pools, a 300-millimetre deep reflection pool. The plans were approved by the council in June, despite the new property exceeding existing height limits by 26 per cent. Jamie Craven, whose son, Ed Craven, has become one of Australia’s youngest billionaires, was banned from working in financial services for five years and jailed for six months over the late 1980s collapse of Spedley Securities. He was initially on the board of his son Ed’s game development company Easygo. In 2016, Ed Craven co-founded Stake, which is the world’s largest online cryptocurrency casino , which is domiciled in the Caribbean tax haven of Curacao. The explosive success of Stake, which has sponsored Premier League football clubs and a Formula 1 team, led to Ed Craven becoming Australia’s youngest billionaire in 2023 at just 27. He is worth an estimated $4.6 billion. Despite the success of Stake, its strategy of allowing users to gamble with cryptocurrency, which allows players to play in jurisdictions where online gambling is restricted, has brought significant legal and regulatory scrutiny, including a string of lawsuits in several US states. In a recent class action case filed in New Jersey, Craven was accused of running one of the largest and most profitable illegal online gambling operations in American history in a class action lawsuit involving megastar rapper Drake. An Easygo spokesperson called that matter a “desperate cash grab” and the company has taken a dismissive attitude to such legal matters. Craven is also co-founder of streaming platform Kick, which was launched in 2022 after Amazon-owned Twitch banned the streams of unlicensed gambling sites, including Stake. The streaming platform is notorious for taking a looser approach to moderation, a business model which has led to a string of controversies, though it claims to have beefed up its approach in recent years . Craven’s representatives were contacted for comment about the Sapphire Beach fire. The house, Noorinya, was built more than 20 years ago by former Microsoft executive Jaybe Ammons and his wife, Shelle. It was bought by Tinkler in 2008 for $11.5 million, months after he sold $420 million worth of shares in Macarthur Coal and became Australia’s richest person under 40. Tinkler’s businesses have since been embroiled in a series of legal troubles. He was declared bankrupt by the Federal Court in 2016. The bankruptcy was annulled two years later. Tinkler’s corporate entity that previously owned the Sapphire Beach property, Noorinya Holdings, was placed into administration two years ago and the house’s title carried a handful of caveats from outstanding creditors before it sold, of which one is the Commissioner of State Revenue. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more.

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A mysterious fire broke out at a mansion owned by the father of a crypto casino billionaire. This incident, occurring at an asset linked to a major figure in the cryptocurrency industry, is drawing significant market attention. Investors should pay attention to the volatility of related assets in terms of security and risk management.

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