Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1541557
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 NOVEMBER 2025 NEWS Fresh fraud allegations emerge against Tipico ahead of key Maltese court ruling A Cypriot firm is accusing Malta-based betting giant Tipico of fraudulent conduct and abuse of dominance, as a separate €14 million fraud and forgery case brought by former franchise partners heads toward judgment in Malta TIPICO, a major betting com- pany headquartered in St Ju- lian's, is now facing fresh alle- gations of fraudulent conduct and abuse of dominance in a new pre-action claim filed in Cyprus. This new development, doc- umented in a Pre-Action Pro- tocol Letter of Claim dated 12 November, sees the Maltese betting giant named as the in- tended defendant by Thrakon Imperial Holding Ltd, a com- pany based in Larnaka, Cyprus. The Cyprus claim asserts that Tipico committed fraudulent and intentional wrongdoing. The intended claimant is seek- ing interest at the statutory rate from the date of each loss, along with legal costs on an in- demnity basis. Thrakon Imperial Holding Ltd claims the facts and law are "overwhelmingly supported" by Tipico's own internal doc- uments and prior testimony, which allegedly prove the case through "the clear admissions of franchise status and the doc- umented knowledge of legal breaches". This new claim surfaces as Tipico continues to navigate a multi-pronged legal attack in the Maltese civil and crimi- nal courts, initiated by a Greek businessman, Antonios Stam- polidis. The protracted litigation in Malta began when Stampolid- is, representing the BVI-regis- tered Chadborn Holdings, sued Tipico and its German former director, Oliver Voigt. Chadborn Holdings was Tipi- co's franchise partner, operat- ing 10 Tipico shops in Austria. The central accusation of fraud revolves around alleged forgery of the franchise con- tract. Stampolidis alleged that Tipico manipulated a new franchise contract that was being negotiated in late 2012. Following a meeting in Frank- furt, Tipico sent Stampolidis a contract to sign, but he was "very surprised" because it did not reflect what they had agreed upon. Stampolidis sent an email back, deleting the paragraphs he disagreed with, and subse- quently faxed and posted the signed, amended draft to Malta. However, Stampolidis claims that Tipico later sent back the original contract, signed by Tipico's then-director Oli- ver Voigt, but now containing Stampolidis's signature. Stampolidis specifically al- leged that the pages where he had deleted sentences were ex- changed, with "a complete line" actually being added in one paragraph. He further claimed Tipico kept his signature but changed the surrounding text to suit them. Stampolidis also cited a "really obvious" colour difference in the logos used on the allegedly exchanged pages (dark black) versus the pages that were kept (very faint). The Greek businessman fur- ther claimed that Tipico's le- gal department tried to cover up the forgery by forcing him to sign new contracts. Another former Tipico director, Hans Wolfram Kessler, allegedly threatened to stop the accept- ance of bets in Stampolidis's shops, forcing their closure, which Stampolidis viewed as a "clear attempt at covering up the forgery". In the Maltese Civil Courts, Stampolidis sought damages in the region of €14 million for the illegal and abusive termina- tion of the franchise agreement and loss of profits. Stampolidis is requesting the courts to de- clare any contracts entered into after the alleged forgery as null, and he calculated that Tipico owes him €15 to €20 million. Beyond the civil suit, Stampo- lidis took his fight to the crim- inal sphere. Stampolidis filed challenge proceedings asking the courts to force the police to prosecute Tipico represent- atives for forgery, claiming the police had previously appeared reluctant to prosecute despite confirming investigations were carried out. A court later or- dered witnesses to be heard in the criminal case filed over the forgery complaint. In a separate criminal com- plaint filed in 2020, Stampolid- is targeted Tipico's managing director, Thomas Wolter, for alleged perjury. Stampolidis's lawyer argued that Wolter had lied in an affidavit filed be- fore Judge Miriam Hayman by claiming the contract had "nev- er materialised", with the sole intention of concealing the con- tract tampering. Tipico denies allegations Tipico, which is based in Mal- ta, has vigorously defended it- self against these claims in the Maltese courts. It denied the forgery allegations, calling them "completely not true", and in- sisted that the contractual re- lationship ended in a manner completely different from that reported by the sworn applica- tion. The company said it was "absolutely not true that the defendant company breached contractual dispositions in some way". The company rebutted Chad- born's claims of unjustified enrichment, stating they were unfounded. Tipico countered by suggesting that, if anything, Chadborn had caused damages to Tipico through their asso- ciation. Tipico also noted that Oliver Voigt and Hans Wolfram Kessler had ceased their roles as directors three years before the civil case was filed. Tipico also denied being the subject of any investigation by law enforcement or regulatory authorities. The civil case in Malta is draw- ing to a close, with a final deci- sion expected to be delivered on 12 June 2026. NICOLE MEILAK nmeilak@mediatoday.com.mt Tipico is based in St Julian's, operating from near Portomaso (Photo: Tipico Group)