Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/835410
11 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 11 JUNE 2017 News MATTHEW VELLA A Malta-licensed gaming company which MaltaToday had previously reported upon over its connection to Italian organised crime, has had its licence suspended by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA). The regulator took long to fi- nally act by suspending the online gambling licence of CenturionBet Ltd, which operates the Bet1128 brand – despite having already been alerted to the firm's criminal ties in both the Italian and Maltese press. The decision was announced on 6 June, with the MGA saying it had suspended CenturionBet's remote gambling licence, and ordered the company to "indefinitely sus- pend all gaming operations, cease to register new players, suspend all transactions on all websites, including deposits and withdraw- als," and fully comply with MGA requests for data and documenta- tion. The MGA said that all websites operating under CenturionBet's licence were "not approved to be operational by the Authority", but until recently the Bet1128.com site was still prominently display- ing the MGA logo and its suspend- ed licence number. But while CenturionBet said the MGA had "identified procedural irregularities in signing contracts with consultants", it also turns out that an anti-mafia operation in May 2017, dubbed 'Jonny', linked the CenturionBet operations to the 'Ndrangheta crime syndicate, which reportedly earned €1.3 mil- lion over a 17-month period for allowing CenturionBet to set up internet-connected retail opera- tions on 'Ndrangheta-controlled territory. According to the investigation by Italy's finance police, Centu- rionBet – through the services of Francesco Martiradonna – would have granted access to its online system to the company Kroton Games, which has connections to the 'Ndrangheta's Arena clan, so that it could transfer large amounts of cash. But when MaltaToday first re- ported Bet1128's connection to Puglia's organised crime syndi- cate, the Sacra Corona Unita, the Maltese regulator had taken ex- ception to suggestions that it was unable to prevent the establish- ment of an alleged mafia-related business concern. Originally, Bet1128 was owned by the Martiradonna family, be- fore moving the gaming franchise from the UK in 2009 to Malta, so that the company assets would not be seized by a police investigation. Originally, the Italian newspa- per Il Fatto Quotidiano had re- vealed how members of the Mar- tiradonna family – who have been given residence permits in Malta – brought the UK-based gaming franchise into Malta through as- sociates of theirs. Formerly investigated by Bari's anti-mafia police in 2009's Opera- tion Domino, the family's patri- arch – Vito Martiradonna – was in 2007 sentenced to three years and four months in jail for mafia association, particularly for his role as a cashier for the Sacra Co- rona Unita. By moving the Bet1128 franchise to Malta, the Martiradonna fam- ily would have dodged the seizure of its British assets when in No- vember 2009 Operation Domino started closing in on them. A month later, Martiradonna and his two sons Michele and Francesco were arrested on fraud- ulent transfer charges, but for which they were later acquitted in 2012. Francesco was also charged with cocaine trafficking, for which he first received a 12-year sentence but was later absolved on appeal. In November 2009, the Brit- ish company Paradise Bet sold Bet1128 and 11 other assets to the Malta-based company Centurion- Bet. At the time, Michele Martira- donna was Paradise Bet's primary shareholder from 2005 until his arrest in December 2009. While the Martiradonna family denies any connection to the Mal- tese company, Il Fatto Quotidi- ano published evidence showing Martiradonna's two sons listing themselves on social networking site LinkedIn as managers of sev- eral gambling operations while operating from the same Maltese address as CenturionBet. In phone conversations inter- cepted by the Italian police before the November 2009 sale, Franc- esco Martiradonna repeatedly dis- cussed moving Paradise Bet's as- sets to Malta and once suggested using nominee directors to do this, according to Italian arrest war- rants obtained by journalists of the Investigative Reporting Project Italy (IRPI). Bet1128's lawyer Fabio Mag- gesi had told MaltaToday that the MGA had its operation in good standing, describing Bet1128 as "a solid brand that is fully in line with Maltese and European laws." On its part, the MGA had told MaltaToday that its due diligence, technical standards and regulatory oversight were "world class and go beyond what other European gam- ing regulators perform… it is un- true and misleading to allege that Malta is used by online gambling companies to operate illegally in Italy." Centurionbet Ltd had at one point in its establishment in 2009 used the services of the Gaming Authority's former legal and en- forcement director, the lawyer Anthony Axisa, as director. Two years ago, Italian authori- ties launched a major crackdown on the illegal gambling operations of Malta-licensed online betting site Betuniq, which was accused of having ties to the 'Ndrangheta crime family. The MGA subse- quently suspended the licences of a number of associated online op- erators. mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Malta gaming regulator suspends licence of bookmaker with mafia ties MaltaToday reported about Bet1128's ties with Italy's Sacra Corona Unita in 2016, but MGA insisted its oversight was beyond question Arrested in 2009: Francesco Martiradonna (face covered) Again arrested, this time May 2017: Martiradonna is now named in connection with CenturionBet, a Maltese- licenced gaming company 17-OTT-2016 Estratto da pag. 1 a cura dell'Ufficio Stampa e Comunicazione 17-OTT-2016 Estratto da pag. 6 a cura dell'Ufficio Stampa e Comunicazione The front-page report in Il Fatto Quotidiano reads 'Companies with clan links find Malta home' and inside, 'Bari calling Malta', describing Vito Martiradonna as a hidden beneficiary for the Bet1128 brand