Tuesday newspaper round-up: Wise, National Lottery, Octopus Energy

The billionaire chief executive of the money transfer provider Wise has been fined hundreds of thousands of pounds by HMRC for deliberately defaulting on his taxes, The Telegraph can reveal. Kristo Kaarmann, the Estonian co-founder of Wise, was charged £365,651 for a deliberate default during the 2017/18 tax year on a £720,495 tax bill. - Telegraph

A Czech billionaire has spent almost £9m preparing his bid to run the National Lottery, outgunning his rivals before the auction of Europe's most prized gambling contract. Karel Komarek's gambling group Sazka is vying to seize control of the National Lottery by ousting incumbent operator Camelot for the first time since the draw’s launch in 1994. - Telegraph

Octopus Energy, which has been taking on customers from collapsed rival suppliers, has secured up to $600m (£438m) from an investment fund set up by the former US vice-president Al Gore. Generation Investment Management (GIM), a $36bn fund manager that finances businesses focused on sustainability and tackling climate change, will take a stake of up to 13% in a deal that values Octopus at $4.6bn. - Guardian

The looming end of the stamp duty holiday this week is having no effect on the property market as house prices continue to rise. Over the past three months, prices have risen by 1.2 per cent, taking the cost of the average home in Britain up to £235,000, according to Zoopla, the online property portal. Over the past year, prices across the UK are up by 6.1 per cent. - The Times

The Monzo co-founder Tom Blomfield has become an investor and adviser at Tahora, an HR app which is trying to help young employees build meaningful relationships in a hybrid-working world. The 36-year-old has spoken openly about his battles with depression, anxiety and poor mental health while at Monzo, the banking services firm he started in 2015 and which is now valued at around £1.2 billion. Blomfield left the business in January. - The Times