3DMAX suffers fraud of close to €1 million – CEO reveals sticker money disappeared

The CS2 scene at the top may not be as riddled with scams and deceit as the lower tiers, but such incidents have not been entirely uncommon. Yesterday, one such case surfaced involving the French organization 3DMAX.

In an interview with LaSource.gg, 3DMAX’s CEO Stéphane Pons revealed that the organization suffered a financial fraud of “six figures, close to seven figures” at the hands of a former partner. Stéphane stated that the fraud occurred shortly before he officially joined the organization in May 2025. After his arrival, given his background in finance, he noticed irregularities and launched an investigation while blocking all of the organization’s revenue streams.

As the investigation progressed, it became clear that a significant portion of revenue had disappeared, including sticker money from the Majors. 3DMAX had received stickers from the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 and the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 prior to May 2025. While the exact amount has not been disclosed, organizations are estimated to earn between $500,000 and $1.5 million per Major from sticker sales. Despite the heavy loss, which Stéphane explicitly said “weakened the org,” he and the club owner committed to covering 100 percent of the missing funds owed to the players.

Esports org 3DMAX was scammed out of $1,000,000 from a former partner, who stole the team's entire revenue, including their CS2 major sticker income pic.twitter.com/pVxitl9qFj

— Pricempire.com (@pricempire) February 25, 2026

Stéphane also stated that legal action is currently underway and that they are close to reaching a resolution, adding that they will soon share “exciting news” related to the matter. The identity of the former partner responsible for the fraud has not been disclosed. When asked whether the organization has stabilized, Stéphane said they have not fully stabilized yet but are actively working to restore stability.

They are continuing to prioritize spending, having recently hired a mental coach to ensure the team lacks no essential support or tools. He also revealed that he received offers for the three-man core of the roster, with amounts close to what SAW reportedly received, but declined them in order to preserve 3DMAX as the only French-flag team currently ranked high in the VRS standings.

He further confirmed that the organization will continue to exist even if they miss qualification for the Cologne Major. As it stands, 3DMAX are outside the top 17 European teams that qualify for the Major. However, they still have a few tournaments before the April 6 invite deadline to earn the 112 points needed to overtake illwill for the final qualification spot.