UK-listed gambling giant GVC Holdings is trying to reassure investors that media speculation involving the company’s links to disgraced online gambling payment processor Wirecard is fake news.

GVC’s shares sunk nearly 9% in Thursday’s early trading on the London Stock Exchange, and while the shares have staged a minor rebound, they’re currently sitting around 5% below Wednesday’s close.

The drop appears to have been caused by a speculative op-ed in the Times by Alistair Osborne. The op-ed cited a theory by some short-sellers who wondered if there was some connection to Wirecard in the recent announcement by Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) that it was “widening the scope of its investigation” into GVC’s former Turkish-facing operations.

Wirecard, which made a name for itself by dealing with ‘controversial’ sectors such as online porn and gambling, imploded last month after management was found to have been fudging the books to show $2b in reserves that didn’t actually exist.