World

Virtual Sports Betting on the Rise in Wake of Coronavirus Pandemic

Published

5 years ago

June 11, 2020

A number of industries across the globe have been dealt devastating blows by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with the sports betting industry being a case in point.

The serious lack of live sporting events almost anywhere in the world has left an enormous void for the bookmakers and their customers. With much of the world currently being forced into various forms of lockdown and self-isolation, many people feel as though they have too much time on their hands and are searching for a little excitement.

Luckily there are a myriad of online betting options to choose from, so the absence of regular live sports betting events has seen a rise in popularity of other forms of betting, such as slot machines, bingo, poker and casino games.

One that is becoming particularly popular is virtual sports betting. For those of you not entirely familiar with it, virtual sports betting is a process that involves placing bets on computer generated virtual (simulated) games, where the outcomes are decided by numbers selected by a Random Number Generator (RNG).

Virtual sports betting brings you round-the-clock betting, with super graphics and anytime competitions that mean no more waiting and way more action. It’s little wonder that, with traditional sports betting being largely decimated at present, this is now such a fast-growing sector in the online betting world.

These simulations include visuals modelled on real-life stadiums, so that virtual sports can look and feel like you’re watching the real thing live. They often come with commentary and highlight reels for a totally immersive experience so, although it won’t quite match the excitement of a real live sports event, it can get pretty close.

As with live sports events, virtual sports involves a selection of fixed odds bets that can be made on the match outcome, correct score, number of goals, which team scores first and a variety of other markets.

The outcome of any given game is always algorithm-based, with the winner picked in a totally unbiased way. The beauty of virtual betting is that games can be played 24/7, thus enabling customers betting opportunities whenever they want.

Customers can bet on these events as they would real life sports events, but one of the big differences is that each virtual sport event only usually takes between 3-5 minutes to complete. These condensed versions of the game are depicted in a series of highlights, so there are no lengthy delays or substitutions, injuries, etc.

There’s an ever expanding selection of virtual sports to bet on, with soccer, basketball, horse racing, American Football, motor racing, tennis, speedway and darts among those on offer. When it comes to the very latest virtual sports betting offers and promotions available, you can get 24/7 virtual sports betting at Freebets.com. Freebets.com is the go-to site to find all the very best betting offers in one place.

For example, in an American Football virtual sports bet, you will have all your favourite markets available to bet on.

There will be the Money Line, Spread and Total Points Over/Under (e.g. Over 37.5; Under 37.5), Winning Margin (e.g. 1-6; 7-12; 13-18; 19-24; 25-30; 31 or more); Total Points (Bands – e.g. 0-25; 26-30; 31-35; 36-40; 41-45; 46-50; 51+); Spread & Totals (e.g. Green Bay -1.5 and Over 37.5; Green Bay -1.5 and Under 37.5; New York +1.5 and Over 37.5; New York -1.5 and Under 37.5) and Result & Total (e.g. Green Bay and Over 37.5; Green Bay and Under 37.5; New York and Over 37.5; New York and Under 37.5).

Basketball is a fairly new addition to the virtual sports betting stable. In addition to the Money Line, Spread and Total Points Over/Under markets, customers can also bet on the likes of Alternative Game Total Points; Alternative Point Spread; Double Result; Result and Total; Spread and Totals; Team Totals and Game Total Bands (5 Point or 10 Point bands).

In regards to soccer virtual sports, you might have options to bet on the Premiership (based on the English Premier League), Superleague (based on European soccer) or World Cup games. Again, there will be a range of familiar betting markets available for customers to enjoy, such as Match Winner, Number of Goals, Correct Score, etc.

Placing a bet on a virtual sports event is essentially no different to placing any other bet, although it’s worth noting that Cash Out isn’t available for Virtual Sports bets and you can’t combine a sportsbook selection with a virtual sports selection in the same betslip.

As with real life sport, there is a vast selection of free bet bonuses available at many of the biggest and most reputable online bookmakers.

The spread of Covid-19 has resulted in some novelties in virtual sports betting, such as a Virtual Grand National, which saw almost 5 million people tuned in to UK public broadcaster ITV (about half the expected audience for the real race). In this instance, betting on the event produced profits of €3 million ($3.3 million) which went towards the UK’s National Health Service (NHS).

There was also a virtual horse race of Grand National champions, pitting the late Red Rum, who won the National three times in the 1970s, against defending champion Tiger Roll.

There has also been some intriguing virtual sports betting on boxing on YouTube, featuring boxing legends Muhammad Ali, Sonny Liston, Mike Tyson and George Foreman. Another betting opportunity came in the virtual soccer match between Chelsea Pensioners and Manchester Blues; two entirely fictitious teams.

It’s widely anticipated that live sporting events will gradually return over the next couple of months, possibly even before the end of May in some instances, barring any rise in Covid-19 cases in the interim period. There will naturally be a dip in virtual sports betting at that point, but the surge of interest in their virtual sports should ensure that its long-term future is assured.

World

TRG Chairman Khaishgi and CEO Aslam implicated in $150 million fraud

Published

6 days ago

June 23, 2025

Jenny Jackson

In a scathing 52-page decision, the Sindh High Court has found that TRG Pakistan’s management was acting fraudulently and that Bermuda-based Greentree Holdings historic and prospective purchase of TRG shares were illegal, fraudulent and oppressive.

The Sindh High Court has further directed TRGP to immediately hold board elections that have been overdue and illegally withheld by the existing board since January 14, 2025.

In the landmark ruling, the Sindh High Court has blocked the attempted takeover of TRG Pakistan Limited by Greentree Holdings, declaring that the shares acquired by Greentree, nearly 30% of TRG’s stock, were unlawfully financed using TRG’s funds in violation of Section 86(2) of the Companies Act 2017.

“Having concluded that the affairs of TRGP are being conducted in an unlawful and fraudulent manner and in a manner oppressive to members such as the Petitioner (Zia Chishti), the case falls for corrective orders under sub-section (2) of section 286 of the Companies Act,” Justice Adnan Iqbal Chaudhry concluded.

The case was brought by TRGP former CEO and founder Pakistani-American technology entrepreneur Zia Chishti against TRG Pakistan, its associate TRG International and TRG International’s wholly-owned shell company Greentree Limited. In addition, the case named AKD Securities for managing Greentree’s illegal tender offer as well as various regulators requiring that they act to perform their regulatory duties.

The case centred around the dispute that shell company Greentree Limited was fraudulently using TRG Pakistan’s own funds to purchase TRG Pakistan’s shares in order to give control to Zia Chishti’s former partners Mohammed Khaishgi, Hasnain Aslam and Pinebridge Investments.

According to the case facts, the Chairman of TRG Pakistan Mohammed Khaishgi and the CEO of TRG Pakistan Hasnain Aslam masterminded the $150 million fraud. They did so together with Hong Kong based fund manager Pinebridge who has two nominees on TRG Pakistan’s board, Mr. John Leone and Mr. Patrick McGinnis.

According to the court papers, Khaishgi, Aslam, Leone, and McGinnis set up a shell company called Greentree which they secretly controlled and from which they started buying up shares of TRG Pakistan. The fraud was that Greentree was using TRG Pakistan’s funds itself. The idea was to give Khaishgi, Aslam, Leone, and McGinnis control over TRG Pakistan even though they owned less than 1% of the company, lawyers of the petitioner told the court.

This was all part of a broader battle for control over TRG Pakistan that is raging between Khaishgi, Aslam, Leone, and McGinnis on one side and TRG Pakistan founder Zia Chishti on the other side. Zia Chishti has been trying to retake control of TRG Pakistan after he was forced to resign in 2021 based on sexual misconduct allegations made by a former employee of his. This year those allegations were shown to be without basis in litigation that Chishti launched in the United Kingdom against The Telegraph newspaper which had printed the allegations. The Telegraph was forced to apologize for 13 separate articles it published about Chishti and paid him damages and legal costs.

After Chishti resigned in 2021, Khaishgi, Aslam, Leone, and McGinnis moved to take total control over TRG Pakistan and its various subsidiaries including TRG International and to block out Chishti. The Sindh High Court’s ruling today has reversed that effort, ruling the scheme fraudulent, illegal, and oppressive.

It now appears that Zia Chishti will take control of TRG Pakistan in short order when elections are called. He and his family are now the largest shareholders with over 30% interest. He is closely followed by companies related to Jahangir Siddiqui & Company which have over a 20% interest. The result appears to be a complete vindication for Zia Chishti and damning for his rivals Aslam, Khaishgi, Leone, and McGinnis who have been ruled to have been conducting a fraud.

TRG Pakistan’s share price declined by over 8% on the news on heavy volume. Market experts say that this was because the tender offer at Rs 75 was gone and that now shares would trade closer to their natural value. Presently the shares are trading at Rs 59 per share.

According to the court ruling, since 2021, shell company Greentree had purchased approximately 30% of TRG shares using $80 million of TRG’s own money, which means that that the directors of TRG Pakistan allowed company assets to be funneled through offshore affiliates TRG International and Greentree for acquiring TRG’s shares – a move deemed both fraudulent and oppressive to minority shareholders. The Sindh High Court also found illegal Greentree’s further attempt to purchase another 35% of TRG shares using another $70 million of TRG’s money in a tender offer.

The ruling is a major victory for the tech entrepreneur Zia Chishti against his former partners and the legal ruling paves the way for him to take control of TRG in a few weeks.