A Malta-based online casino that has been linked to the mafia is reported to have used the now disgraced Wirecard to process its payments. 

Wirecard, Malta, and the Mafia

According to the Malta Independent, the UK’s Financial Times has quoted Italian legal sources and documents, which are said to confirm that Wirecard processed payments for CenturionBet until 2017. 

CenturionBet was, according to Italian courts, used to launder money for the ‘Ndrangheta’, one of Europe’s most notorious mafia organisations, in what was described as a “sophisticated” money laundering operation.

The Ndrangheta group connected with CenturionBet was from the southern Italian region of Calabria. In addition to working with Latin American drug cartels to traffic cocaine into Europe, the group is involved in extortion, gun running, money laundering, murder, and even is said to have taken control of one of Europe’s biggest refugee reception centres, stealing EU funds that were supposed to help provide for migrants from North Africa. 

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) suspended CenturionBet’s operating license in 2017, following an anti-mafia raid in which 68 people were arrested. Since then, over 30 people have been sentenced in relation to the case.

Another, bigger Malta-based operator under investigation?

Furthermore, the Financial Times report quoted more Italian legal internal documents that say Wirecard was also processing payments for another, larger Malta-based gambling company that is suspected of laundering money for organised crime groups. Apparently, that investigation is continuing. 

The name of the company under investigation was not revealed. 

While we’re talking about Malta and investigations…

Just last week, we reported that GVC Holdings had refuted a report in the UK’s The Times newspaper, suggesting a link between the HMRC investigation into its former Turkish subsidiary and the Wirecard ‘farrago’.

The allegations revolved around payments processing provider Kalixa, which GVC sold in 2017 for €29m, to Senjo Group and Wirecard. 

GVC’s board stressed there was “no evidence of any link between the HMRC investigation and the payment service providers mentioned in the newspaper report”, and that it was complying fully with HMRC.

However, in related news, on 21 July HMRC confirmed it had expanded its ongoing investigation into GVC’s former Turkish online subsidiary, Headlong Limited, to examine “potential corporate offending” on the part of GVC itself, specifically referencing section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010. 

Headlong Limited was sold to Ropso Malta Limited, in November 2017. Ropso Malta Limited was part-owned by Ron Watts, a business associate of former GVC CEO Kenny Alexander. 

Kenny Alexander abruptly retired from GVC, after thirteen years at the helm, in mid-July. 

Meanwhile, in Russia…

In late July, Russian media outlet Kommersant, reported that former Wirecard chief operating officer, Jan Marsalek, was hiding out in a house near Moscow, under the protection of Russian authorities. 

Immediately following auditors from EY discovering that $2.1 billion of Wirecard’s funds couldn’t be accounted for, Marsalek had departed for the Philippines to “find the missing funds” (which were said to be in a couple of Philippine banks). 

However, reports suggest he never arrived in the Philippines, despite Russia’s Federal Security Service helping make it look like he did. In reality, if the reports are true, they whisked him away to Moscow. 

Shortly after Marsalek’s flight, German police arrested Wirecard’s CEO, Markus Braun, and the company collapsed. 

AYO.NEWS says:

If this was a movie you’d probably say it was far-fetched! While it’s clear no one knows exactly how all the pieces fit together here (or even if all of them do), we’re sure we haven’t heard the last of it. 

And as for Mr Alexander, he must be breathing a sigh of relief he decided to retire when he did… right?

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