Ron Bielecki: Can IT forensic experts save him from a conviction?

In February last year, we reported on a penalty order totalling almost half a million euros that had been issued against the controversial influencer Ron Bielecki. After Bielecki lodged an appeal, the case has now gone to trial. The 25-year-old is accused of operating and advertising illegal gambling in streams. But will an IT forensic expert now be called in and can he avert a conviction?

The Berlin public prosecutor's office has accused the controversial YouTuber and entertainer Ron Bielecki of taking part in illegal gambling in online casinos over 50 times between October 2021 and May 2022. According to the public prosecutor's office, he also allegedly advertised the illegal gambling offers on his channels in at least 37 cases. We at GambleJoe reported back in summer 2022 that the public prosecutor's office was investigating Bielecki. According to the report, Bielecki is alleged to have gambled in Stake's online casino. Stake still does not have a licence from the Joint Gambling Authority of the Federal States (GGL) and is therefore illegal in this country.

Were Bielecki live streams manipulated by unknown persons?

A few days ago, a trial took place at the district court in Berlin-Tiergarten. The defendant's defence lawyer argued that although Bielecki regularly streamed live on Twitch, no links to casino sites were visible. These were only added afterwards by unknown persons and the manipulated videos were then uploaded to YouTube channels - according to the defence's theory. In any case, Bielecki is not believed to be connected to the livestreams in which illegal gambling was advertised.

In order to disprove the defence's theory, the public prosecutor's office could now request an expert opinion from IT experts. An IT forensic expert can determine whether someone has edited videos afterwards. However, it can already be established at this stage that the adverts shown in the video exactly match the moves made by Bielecki, which he himself comments on. For this reason, the defence's theory can already be called into question at this stage. Ultimately, however, the judgement must of course be awaited. As Ron Bielecki lodged an appeal against a penalty order issued against him, an oral hearing has now been held in Berlin.

Conclusion

Ron Bielecki claims in court that the adverts for illegal gambling offers were subsequently manipulated into his videos. For this reason, the court will now undoubtedly have to determine in an expert opinion whether this statement can be true or not. Of course, a lot of money is at stake in this case. As part of the penalty order, Bielecki was ordered to pay 120 daily rates of 4,000 euros each, i.e. a total fine of 480,000 euros. It will be interesting to see what judgement the court will ultimately reach in this case.

Image source: https://pixabay.com/de/illustrations/recht-und-ordnung-gesetz-klausel-6311493/