Social gaming and sweepstakes operator VGW has appointed Mats Johnson as acting CEO after executive chairman and founder Laurence Escalante was charged by police in Western Australia.
Escalante founded VGW in November 2010 but will take a leave of absence from the company after being charged by police over family violence and drug offences.
Johnson takes over as CEO on an interim basis and has extensive knowledge of the VGW business through more than ten years’ service with the company, during which time he has served as a director and member of the executive team as chief marketing officer until late 2025, when he transitioned to the role of president.
“We are aware of the serious charges made against Mr Escalante,” said a VGW spokesperson. “These are unrelated to VGW and personal in nature. However, we can confirm Mr Escalante will be taking a leave of absence from his role as CEO and executive chairman of VGW.
“In the interim, we have installed experienced leadership from our existing executive team to take on those responsibilities and it remains business as usual for VGW. The company takes any allegations of this nature extremely seriously. As this is a private matter and remains before the courts, we cannot comment further.”