Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/741600
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2016 4 News JURGEN BALZAN THE Italian who ran a money laundering operation in Malta through a network of remote gam- ing companies has been rewarded for collaborating with the Italian authorities by being allowed to res- urrect the business he ran for the Calabria mafia,'Ndrangheta. Mario Gennaro, 39, was arrest- ed in Malta in July 2015 together with several other associates on the strength of a European Ar- rest Warrant, following a bust led by anti-mafia police from Reggio Calabria, home of the feared, in- ternational criminal organisation. Following his arrest, Gennaro turned informer and his revela- tions revealed the relationship be- tween the world of illegal online betting and organised crime in- cluding the Camorra of Naples, and the Sicilian Mafia. Now Betuniq, the company which previously operated in Mal- ta, will soon resume its business in Italy under Mario Gennaro's guid- ance after the magistrate oversee- ing Gennaro's case accepted the informer's request – upon the recommendation of the Antimafia prosecution office – to allow him to resuscitate Betuniq. The decision has baffled Maltese authorities because after last year's crackdown on the illegal opera- tions, the Italian regulatory body is allowing Betuniq to operate un- der the same owner and under the same name. Gennaro was arrested together with Margherita Giudetti, 34, Francesco Ripepi, 38, Alessandro Ciaffi, 40, Rocco Ripepi, 36 and Fortunato Stracuzzi, 37, all con- nected to the Betuniq brand and living in Malta. Reward for collaboration This month, Judge Caterina Cat- alano accepted Gennaro's request to relaunch the company, follow- ing what has been described as his "decisive contribution" to the au- thorities' investigations. The company's webpage is back online and is announcing "the be- ginning of a new era and with hu- mility we are once again at your service." Last week, Betuniq's new com- mercial director, Ugo Cifone, said the court's decision "expressly provides for the possibility for Gennaro to return to work with Betuniq". Gennaro, who has been kept un- der house arrest in undisclosed locations during his cooperation with the Italian police, has agreed to work remotely and to have no contact with the betting public. Reports in the Italian media say that Gennaro's role will be con- fined to marketing, promotions and strategic planning. The new Betuniq will operate under a li- cence issued by Italian regulator AAMS to Poker & Bet Ltd – a sub- sidiary of the Naples-based Vincitù Group. Vincitù's CEO and Betuniq di- rector Vincent Saviano, said the revamped operation would reopen for business to Italian gamblers "within 15 days" and that in addi- tion to betting Betuniq will also offer online poker and live dealer casino games. Betuniq will operate both online and physical 'recharge points' that will allow customers to top up their accounts, but withdrawals will only be permitted via traditional pay- ment channels i.e. credit cards and bank transfers. Upon his arrest, Calabria police described 40-year-old Mario Genn- aro, who was registered at a Pender- gardens address at St Julian's, as the mastermind behind the web of ille- gal online betting and gambling in Italy on behalf of the 'Ndrangheta. Anti-mafia magistrates conclud- ed that Gennaro's frequent trips to Malta and his participation in poker tournaments confirmed that the mafia's money was being trans- ferred to Malta. Gennaro was described by the judge as the mafia's "new man" (homo novus) who acted as the 'Ndrangheta's "instrument and guarantor" in its attempt to infil- trate the betting industry through ostensibly lawful operations. In recent years, Italian police had been following Gennaro's move- ments closely, especially his fre- quent trips to Malta, where he par- ticipated in poker tournaments with notorious people from Calabria well known for their affction for casinos and sports betting. They also said that the Texas Hol- dem Poker tournaments in Malta were being used for the recycling of money deriving from criminal ac- tivities, principally from the Tegano clan. Despite Gennaro having already been outed in 2011 as an associ- ate of the Tegano clan, neither the Malta Gaming Authority nor GVM Holdings – the company that gave the Betuniq group fiduciary services to hide their owners' identities – appear to have been aware of the criminal elements planning to fun- nel millions through Malta's remote gaming industry. The Betuniq group's ties to the 'Ndrangheta were revealed during a Palermo tribunal on 26 May, 2014, that had condemned several mem- bers of the Noce clan of the Sicilian Mafia to a total of 300 years' impris- onment. Gennaro was then exposed to have been running Betuniq's network of gaming shops in Reggio Calabria and in neighbourhoods controlled by the 'Ndrangheta. But even earlier in 2011, in a seizure order issued by the Reggio Calabria anti-mafia unit, Gennaro was described as being "tied to Franco Benestaro, deputy head of the Tegano 'ndrina". 'Ndrangheta's Malta man turns informer to relaunch disgraced betting company Former Labour MEP lands Central Bank consultancy TIM DIACONO THE Central Bank has employed former Labour minister and MEP John Attard Montalto as a legal consultant on a €23,604 contract, data tabled in parliament shows. Attard Montalto's name cropped up on a list of Central Bank con- sultants that finance minister Ed- ward Scicluna had tabled, follow- ing a parliamentary question by PN deputy leader Mario de Marco. The list shows that Attard Montal- to, a lawyer, has been employed as a Central Bank consultant since July 2015, on a €1,967 monthly contract as well as a €300 annual mobile al- lowance. A lawyer and close friend of the late former prime minister Dom Mintoff, Attard Montalto served as economy minister between 1996 and 1998 during Alfred Sant's short-lived administration. After failing in his bid for the La- bour leadership, Attard Montalto became one of Malta's first MEPs in 2004, when he was elected on the Labour ticket along with now- Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech. He was re-elected as one of Labour's three MEPs in 2009, along with Grech and finance minister Edward Scicluna. During his ten-year tenure as a MEP, Attard Montalto faced criti- cism over his poor attendance re- cord at the Parliament. He had only attended two out of 25 meetings of the transport and tourism com- mittee in 2005, and had told Mal- taToday that the committee was "a waste of time 80% of the time". He was notably absent for a cru- cial 2005 vote on a proposed direc- tive that would have allowed ships entering EU ports to use their own manpower rather than local, re- portedly because he was on a cruise in Mexico. During his political career, he was also close to the hunting lobby and was indeed made honorary presi- dent of hunting federation FKNK. In 2011, he bizarrely claimed that the European Commission's legal action against Malta over live-bird trapping was "having a life-threat- ening effect on up to 8,000 trappers and their suffering families" to the extent that there had been "unex- plained deaths". The Central Bank employs John Attard Montalto, a former Labour minister and MEP, as a legal consultant Mario Gennaro, a point-man in an 'Ndrangheta money laundering operation, gets reward for informing on clan members with a gaming licence Mario Gennaro, escorted by the police on his arrival in Italy after his arrest in Malta last year 'Never give up' Betuniq says, quite appropriately