Swedish Court Seizes GGF CEO's Assets

If there was any doubt that Hans Pandeya, Global Gaming Factory X's CEO, had as much chance of getting his hands on the Pirate Bay as winning the Super Bowl, yet again, a major issue has popped up putting another serious damper on any would-be transaction. A Swedish court has seized control over all of his personal assets pending a decision on whether he owes former business partner Johan Sellstrom about $400,000. The court so far has sided with the latter and has blocked Pandeya's properties until the appeal.

"I was pleased to find that the Court has ruled that my promissory note is indeed genuine," Sellstrom told Cnet. "More importantly, they agreed that a lien against Pandeya's net assets had to be put into effect immediately in order to prevent evasive measures on his part. I look forward to a hasty process in order to minimize the damage that Hans Pandeya has caused the share holders of GGF and wish them all the luck with the acquisition."

The court will now hold Pandeya's assets until the sum owed can be raised by selling them, though GGF's CEO can appeal the decision. While having his possessions seized is bad enough for him personally, it may also affect the Pirate Bay deal, which was looking highly unlikely already as Pandeya has yet to raise the money required. In fact, while dismissing the claims made by Sellstrom, he told the court just that, saying that the seizure would make it impossible for him to secure any loans, which he planned to back up with his own assets.

GGF announced it would buy the Pirate Bay several months ago and has backed that claim several times though, so far, there hasn't been any clear move in that direction. An August 27 deadline came and went and Pandeya now claims September 30 is the date when the transaction will take place. This despite having GGF's stock transactions blocked on a Swedish exchange market and having to raise $7.2 million in cash with no stock to trade and no assets to guarantee any loan.