Malta suspends bookmaker license

The local gaming regulator has revealed that Bet1128’s license has been suspended over ties with Italy’s mafia.

Malta.- The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) announced that the Italian gaming company Bet1128 has suffered the suspension of its license in the country over ties with the Sacra Corona Unita mafia.

The local gaming regulator had revealed last week the decision to suspend CenturionBet’s online license, which operates Bet1128 operations, but said that it wasn’t approved to be operational by them. Italian gaming news agency Agimeg said that CenturionBet affirmed that the MGA identified procedural irregularities in signing contracts with consultants. Whilst they showed their deepest regrets over the issue, they insisted that they acted in full compliance with the MGA’s instructions and that all the payment activities would be guaranteed. Nevertheless, new information revealed that the MGA linked CenturionBet with operations from a crime syndicate that earned approximately US$1.5 million over 17 months.

The local police, as Malta Today revealed, linked CenturionBet’s services to Francesco Martiradonna, which allegedly granted access to its online system to the Kroton Games company, known to have connections to the ’Ndrangheta’s Arena clan. The police believes that they used that method to transfer big loads of cash. Moreover, Bet1128 was initially owned by the Martiradonna family, but it was later relocated in Malta in order to avoid police investigations.

Fabio Maggesi, lawyer of Bet1128, told the news outlet that the company is a solid brand that was fully in line with European and Maltese laws.