Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/550022
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 AUGUST 2015 6 News CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 "With him working in the background, Betu- niq is doing great, with 330 shops in Reggio Calabria and the rest of the south, raking in €225 million in 2013. Its singular achievement is that it has no concession from the state – Betuniq is blacklisted by the Customs and Monopolies Agency." But the Betuniq brand prospered in Malta, with a licence issued to Uniq Group Ltd in December 2013, backdated to May 2012. However, Malta Gaming Authority executive chairman Joseph Cusch- ieri has told MaltaToday that the Uniq Group was already "operating in and out of Malta since February 2011, following their application in November 2010." "The authorisation granted to Uniq Group Ltd predates my time… the initial due diligence checks were conducted between November 2010 and February 2011 and no adverse remarks were found on the licensee and applicants. The same process was followed on my watch, that is from November 2013 onwards," Cuschieri told MaltaToday. Cuschieri said that the MGA relies on official sources and documenta- tion for the fit-and-proper checks carried out to assess individuals. But as he said, the Uniq Group was already "operating legitimately in Malta since February 2011." David Gonzi, whose name was investigated by Reggio Calabria police in Operation Gambling, has distanced himself from suggestions that Gennaro's criminal ties were overlooked by his fiduciary firm. Gonzi is a 33% shareholder in GVM Holdings, a name-lender com- pany that serviced the Uniq Group and its owner Start Games Limited, and several of its associated compa- nies and subsidiaries. In Malta, the Betuniq companies were controlled by Ulisse Bellino, Mario Gennaro, Mario Zucco, Domenico Lagrot- teria, Giovanni Longo, and Cosimo Suppa – all names mentioned by the Reggio Calabria prosecutor as being part of the 'Ndrangheta's web of in- fluence in their gaming interest. In his dossier, the Reggio Calab- ria prosecutor said Gonzi, son of former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi, "had to be strongly con- demned" and claimed that Gonzi acted "as a cover for the criminal ac- tivities… Pending further necessary investigation, it would be plausible to situate [Gonzi] right at the centre of an international criminal business triangulation network." But Gonzi has defended his role, saying he became a director of GVM Holdings in December 2014, and that it was not Mario Gennaro who was a client of GVM Holdings, and that his firm never received instruc- tions from Gennaro. "I personally never met, spoke to or otherwise communicated directly or indirectly with Mario Gennaro," he told MaltaToday. In a previous statement, Gonzi said that he had first contact with the gaming companies in October 2013, and that he had no reason to suspect they were involved in any unlawful activity. "It was only on this basis that the companies involved were accepted as clients of GVM." Gonzi defended GVM Holdings' actions in having carried out "en- hanced due diligence" on all of its clients, requesting authenticated copies of passports, original bank references, and original utility bills and police conduct certificates is- sued in the clients' country of resi- dence. "In addition, checks on interna- tional data intelligence databases are carried out in relation to all clients. In this respect, GVM complied with all requirements imposed by law and by the authorities relating to keeping proper checks on its clients," Gonzi told MaltaToday. Gennaro was 'Ndrangheta's point- man According to Reggio Calabria's anti-mafia unit, which authored a 750-page dossier for Operation Gambling and naming 128 persons of interest in its bust, Pendergar- dens resident Mario Gennaro was the point-man for the 'Ndrangheta, running a gaming network as part of an alliance that also featured the Camorra of Naples, and the Sicilian Mafia. "He guaranteed the controlled dif- fusion of various illicit [gambling] sites, the result of a criminal pact with entrepreneurs [Renato] Grasso and [Antonio] Padovani, respective- ly representing the Camorra and the Sicilian Mafia." The investigators claim that it is clear that Mario Gennaro was the 'Ndrangheta's representative "with whom Grasso and Padovani came to terms to guarantee the illicit and criminal sponsorship of their [gam- bling] shops in Calabria." 'Slot machine king' Antonio Pa- dovani was arrested for Mafia as- sociation in 2011, and had his €40 million asset wealth seized. Gennaro was arrested together with Margherita Giudetti, 34, Franc- esco Ripepi, 38, Alessandro Ciaffi, 40, Rocco Ripepi, 36 and Fortunato Stracuzzi, 37, all connected to the Betuniq brand and living in Malta. The Malta Gaming Authority sus- pended with immediate effect the licences of Uniq Group Limited (Be- tuniq) and Betsolution4U Limited. Gennaro was described as 'Ndrangheta's "new man" (homo novus) by Italian police, which had been following Gennaro's frequent trips to Malta, where he participated in poker tournaments with notori- ous people from Calabria. Anti-mafia magistrates concluded that Gennaro's frequent trips to Malta and his participation in poker tournaments confirmed that the mafia's money was being transferred to Malta. 1$785$ 0$1$*(0(173/$1638%/,&&2168/7$7,21 2YHURIWKHODQGWHUULWRU\RIWKH0DOWHVH,VODQGVIRUPVSDUWRIWKH 1DWXUDQHWZRUN1DWXUDVLWHVDUHSURWHFWHGDUHDVDFURVV WKH(XURSHDQ8QLRQZLWKWKHDLPRIFRQVHUYLQJDQGLPSURYLQJWKH VWDWXVRIKDELWDWVDQGVSHFLHVRIZLOGIDXQDDQGÀRUDIRUZKLFKWKH\DUH SURWHFWHG )ROORZLQJH[WHQVLYHVWDNHKROGHULQYROYHPHQWPDQDJHPHQWSODQV KDYHEHHQGUDIWHGDVSDUWRIDQ($)5'SURMHFW7KHSODQVSURYLGHD VXVWDLQDEOHGLUHFWLRQWRZDUGVDFKLHYLQJWKLVFRQVHUYDWL RQFRPPLWPHQW ZKLOVWWDNLQJLQWRFRQVLGHUDWLRQWKHSDUWLFXODUVRFLRHFRQRPLFDVSHFWV RIHDFKVLWH 0(3$ LV SXEOLVKLQJ WKHVH GUDIW PDQDJHPHQW SODQV IRU SXEOLF FRQVXOWDWLRQZLWKWKHSXUSRVHRILQYLWLQJDOOVWDNHKROGHUVDQGWKHSXEOLF WRJLYHWKHLUYLHZVRQWKH¿QDOSURSRVHGREMHFWLYHVDQGPHDVXUHV SHUWDLQLQJWRHDFKPDQDJHPHQWSODQ 7KHSURSRVHG0DQDJHPHQW3ODQVPD\EHYLHZHGRQWKHZHEVLWH ZZZQDWXUDPDOWDFRPPW&RPPHQWVDQGVXEPLVVLRQVDUHWREH VHQ WWRQDWXUD#PHSDRUJPWE\QRWODWHUWKDQ:HGQHVGD\WK 6HSWHPEHU(DFKVXEPLVVLRQQHHGVWRFOHDUO\LQGLFDWHWKHQDPH RIWKHPDQDJHPHQWSODQ 'LVFXVVLRQVHPLQDUVZLOOEHKHOGRQ)ULGD\WK$XJXVWDQG0RQGD\ WK$XJXVWDWWKH0(3$%RDUGURRPLQ)ORULDQD0RUHGHWDLOV PD\EHYLHZHGIURPRQWKHZHEVLWHZZZQDWXUDPDOWDFRPPW 5XUDO'HYHORSPHQW3URJUDPPHIRU0DOWD± $[LV±,PSURYLQJWKH4XDOLW\RI/LIHLQ5XUDO$UHDV 3URMHFWSDUW¿QDQFHGE\WKH(XURSHDQ8QLRQ &R¿QDQFLQJ5DWH(XURSHDQ8QLRQ*RYHUQPHQWRI0DOWD 7KH(XURSHDQ$JULFXOWXUDO)XQGIRU5XUDO'HYHORSPHQW (XURSH,QYHVWLQJLQ5XUDO$UHDV Italian crime 'alliance' had Malta base When in 2014 his Ndrangheta ties were revealed during a mafia trial in Palermo, his operations went on unhindered for another 12 months before his arrest Mario Gennaro, handcuffed, escorted by the police on his arrival in Italy on Friday