Ottawa Senators forward Arthur Kaliyev allegedly owed tens of thousands of dollars in gambling debts during his time in the NHL, his ex-girlfriend told the New York Post.
Key Takeaways
- Kaliyev signed a one-year, $775,000 deal with the Senators this offseason.
- Ex-girlfriend claims his accounts showed transactions at several betting sites, including FanDuel.
- The NHL looked into the matter but did not find any substantial wrongdoing.
Lauren Mochen, an adult content model, said her relationship with the Uzbekistan-born Kaliyev began in 2022, the summer after his first full season with the Los Angeles Kings.
The woman shared with the New York Post a screenshot of the man’s private account that showed he made several transactions at Crypto.com, FanDuel, and with an associate who allegedly placed sports bets for him. She also said she found unwanted transitions on her PayPal account that were linked to popular offshore sportsbook Bovada.
That was consistent with his conduct, she claimed. Kaliyev was said to frequently flip through multiple sports games while staring at his phone.
“He behaved as if he had bets placed on every single game that was on my TV,” Mochen told the Post. “He would sit there checking his phone, checking and flipping back and forth between games.”
According to Mochen, Kaliyev, 24, also engaged in other abnormal behaviors during their relationship. For example, he told Mochen he had a $400 check from his mother to repay money he had “accidentally” taken from Mochen's PayPal account. The money was allegedly used to pay employees of a shipping company owned by his family, whom Mochen described as “scary.”
Kaliyev also told Mochen his family’s actions had resulted in his account being frozen. That led to Mochen returning the $400 she had deposited into her account.
Mochen said she funded Kaliyev’s “entire life,” alleging she deposited checks from his family worth $1,000, $1,500, and $2,300 within one week and then sent the money to the player. Shortly after, she received a call from the bank informing her she had cashed three fraudulent checks and was $7,000 in the red.
According to Mochen, these situations continued until she had gave Kaliyev more than $50,000 of her own money. She claims he used the funds to fuel a gambling addiction that went unaddressed by the authorities and the NHL.
Alleged troubling behaviors
Mochen claimed she paid for the majority of Kaliyev’s expenses during the 2023-24 season, only for him to “randomly show up in new Gucci shoes.”
When discussing finances with her, Kaliyev would allegedly use Snapchat, which deletes messages after 24 hours.
She also said he asked for personal information and access to her PayPal account, and he even used her details and a separate phone number to create a new account in her name.
Mochen filed an incident report Sept. 4 in Saginaw Township, Michigan, after the pair had broken up to begin her attempt at reclaiming her lost funds. She said she plans to file charges.
NHL found no wrongdoing
A text message Mochen shared with the Post showed SKA Saint Petersburg winger Igor Larionov II, said to be Kaliyev’s best friend, claimed longtime Kings defenseman Drew Doughty told him Kaliyev was in debt of “around $50,000” to several Kings players for “fines, fees, group bets, and betting pools.”
Mochen said another Kings player told her over Snapchat that Kaliyev still owes money to members of the club. Ex-Kings general manager Rob Blake told Kaliyev’s agent, Ian Pulver, he wouldn’t trade or waive the player until he paid outstanding tips to team trainers, a source told the Post.
Mochen claims she gave Kaliyev the money he needed, and he was waived Jan. 5.
Kaliyev has not provided a comment. The NHL looked into the situation but said there was “no substantiation that anything Kaliyev was doing was in violation of our rules or applicable law.”
The Senators recalled Kaliyev in October. He produced one point in two games there and another six points in seven contests with Ottawa's AHL team, the Belleville Senators. He also spent time in the New York Rangers organization.
