You may have heard of the FaZe Clan, an extremely popular group who competes mostly in Call of Duty and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Well, some of their members have been implicated in taking part in the Counter-Strike gambling rings that are currently being investigated and shutdown by Valve.
According to MCV UK, YouTube investigator Honor The Call did a new video that implicated the FaZe Clan in part ownership of the gambling site called CSGO Wild. In the video below they go over some of the information and details that implicate members of the FaZe Clan as having ties to the Counter-Strike gambling circuit.
It starts with a request from Ricky “FaZe” Banks who requested a web design programmer back in October of 2015 through a Twitter post.
Looking for some graphics guys who specialize in web design specifically. Link me your portfolios, looking to pay someone good money $$$
— FaZe Banks (@Banks) October 3, 2015
Later on in a series of private messages Banks is seen talking to a web developer about CSGO Wild and comes right out and says that he “owns it”.
This kind of contradicts what was posted on the CSGO Wild Twitter account, where the supposed owners wrote…
“I didn’t think I’d be making a public statement about the relationship between CSGOWild and FaZe—but after consistent posts filled with untrue accusations and speculation, I figured it was time to tell the tale.
“First off, FaZe Clan, and any of its members do not and have NEVER owned any part of Wild. Team Wild Inc. also know as CSGOWild is ONLY owned by myself and my brother, Zach.”
They link to the incorporation documents and direct members of the press to a Twitter account for a password to access the files.
They followed up the post with a video that takes a not-so-subtle jab at Trevor “TmarTn” Martin and CS: GO Lotto, saying you could use the coupon codes “Scammer” and “TmarTn” for a free $1,000 from CS: GO Lotto.
Following that, Banks makes a tweet stating that he only owns the FaZe Clan and not any of the CS: GO gambling sites, posting the following message on July 18th, 2016 on Twitter.
I own FaZe Clan.. and a fat Dragonite, but that’s it
— FaZe Banks (@Banks) July 18, 2016
Another owner of the FaZe Clan, Nordan Shat, also denied having any ties to CSGO Wild, making a Twitter post to the public at large stating that the only thing the top brass at FaZe own is the clan itself.
Owner of FaZe Clan and only FaZe Clan. No matter what rumors you hear.
— Vape Lord Nord ☁️ (@FaZe_Rain) July 18, 2016
However, as pointed out in Honor The Call’s video, a private conversation between another member of the FaZe Clan and the web developer revealed that Nordan “FaZe Rain” Shat was another partial owner of the site.
The video evidence in Honor The Call’s exposé is deafening.
He shows that some of the members of FaZe Clan have been altering their videos following the CS: GO Lotto scandal, adding in disclosures and changing the names of the videos, so as to comply with the Federal Trade Commission’s endorsement policies.
The owners of CSGO Wild and the members of FaZe Clan have continued to deny any ownership affiliation with the gambling ring, but it doesn’t matter anymore given that the site is shutting down.
What’s interesting is that Masetro CEO Ari Evans had mentioned previously that some big name teams have affiliations and ownership of gambling sites to help compensate for the low revenue generated by the e-sports market. With the news breaking about FaZe Clan and the ties to CSGO Wild, it looks like he wasn’t off the mark at all.
