Pirate Bay suitor served with bankruptcy petition: court

September 18, 2009

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The chief executive officer of the Swedish gaming group Global Gaming Factory (GGF), Hans Pandeya, is pictured in June 2009. Global Gaming Factory has been served with a bankruptcy petition, a Stockholm court official said on Friday, after a former board member filed a complaint over unpaid debts.

Pirate Bay suitor Global Gaming Factory has been served with a bankruptcy petition, a Stockholm court official said on Friday, after a former board member filed a complaint over unpaid debts.

"There has been an application from another company, Advatar Systems, against Global Gaming Factory (GGF)," a spokeswoman for Stockholm district court told AFP.

The spokeswoman said Advatar was claiming more than 1.3 million kronor (188,000 dollars, 128,000 euros) from GGF, a Stockholm-based software company, but gave no further details as to the nature of the dispute.

Stockholm district court will hear the case in November, she added.

Calls to Global Gaming Factory's chief executive Hans Pandeya for a comment were not immediately returned.

Advatar Systems is a business consultancy run by former GGF director Johan Sellstroem, who declined to comment on the case when contacted by AFP.

Trading in GGF shares were suspended on August 21 after an investigation was announced into financial irregularities.

GGF was kicked off equity market Aktietorget on September 10 after regulators concluded it had misled investors with its claims that it was set to buy the popular download site, the Pirate Bay.

Media reports have suggested its announcement on June 30 to buy the site was merely a bluff to boost its share price.

Its shares are now traded on the small Mangold exchange.

Founded in 2003, The Pirate Bay makes it possible to skirt copyright fees and share music, film and computer game files using bit torrent technology, or peer-to-peer links offered on the site.

It claims to have some 22 million users worldwide.

(c) 2009 AFP