Crackdown on the ‘Ndrangheta: Malta Gaming Authority’s stance

Published: July 22, 2015 at 6:39pm

I have just had a phone-call from Heathcliff Farrugia, chief operating officer of the Malta Gaming Authority, to explain that senior staff were not out of the office when I rang for information, but were actually in the boardroom discussing a statement on the involvement of Maltese gaming companies in the Italian police crackdown on the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta.

Meanwhile, I have received the statement, which says:

The Malta Gaming Authority has suspended with immediate effect the licenses of Uniq Group Limited (Betuniq) and Betsolution4U Limited. These operators have been operating in Malta since 2011.

This is further to investigations and arrests carried out by the Italian law enforcement authorities in collaboration with the Maltese police.
The MGA is providing full support to the relevant authorities so that Malta’s reputation as a gaming jurisdiction of excellence is kept free from crime and money laundering.

The MGA is also alerting counterpart regulators in other EU jurisdictions about this case.

Heathcliff Farrugia told me that the companies in question are completely in line with Maltese regulations and are up to date with all requirements. Their licences have been suspended (not withdrawn) only in response to the Italian police action as “there is nothing visibly wrong in the actual operations”.

The licences will be kept suspended until further information is available from the Italian police/judicial authorities.