Serious problems at Purple Lounge

[vinylweatherman]

FWIW this is absolutely confirmed from what I see on the PAB side of things: as useless as spare nipples on a breast plate (ASOIAF ).

Should add that this "letter box" company business is pretty much standard practice in Cyprus, Malta too it seems. There are lawyers there who walk around with briefcases containing dozens and dozens of casinos "registered locally". One guy said his briefcase contained a billion dollars in paper companies. And the paper in those briefcases is about all the presence those casinos have locally too, aside from their wonderful letterbox. It's a scam and a big fat dodge, like registering oil tankers in Liberia to avoid liability for oil spills, etc. Governments let it happen because it pays so well to do so. A casino license from Cyprus is written on bog roll, Malta is no better.

Now, THERE'S a marketing idea

 

[whatever]

It's the LGA who should be tarred and feathered. This is negligence in the worst form - they failed to ensure that players' funds would be protected. I thought this is the primary concern of a licensing agency.

I sent 5 e-mails in the last 7 weeks to [email protected] and to Ms. Frances Blenheim, who I've been told is the complaints officer. I asked for a reply at least to show some respect towards one of the affected players. Got nothing back.

If Media Corp is claiming that Purple Lounge Malta is responsible for players' funds, I think the LGA could've done something about it, especially since their regulations state that "the suspension, revocation or expiration of the licence shall not affect any liability of the licence holder for anything done or omitted to be done before the date of suspension, revocation or expiration."

But then again, why would you take action when you know the regulation system is flawed?

 

[$97 All in.]

I can't see any point in going mental at the new management team now running Media Corp (MDC), they aren't the people who stole your money.

They took over a bombed out company after it had been criminally mismanaged & raped by the two brothers who were at the helm - Jason & Justin Drummond.

It's the Drummonds (& Sara Vincent) you should be after.

I believe one of the brother is Executive Chairman at a company called COMS Plc, where he remains "very optimistic about the future of Coms plc."

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[questa]

I can't see any point in going mental at the new management team now running Media Corp (MDC), they aren't the people who stole your money.

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

Really?

Even though the NEW management are the ones claiming they don't owe the players their balances??

I find that astonishing.

 

[$97 All in.]

Really?

Even though the NEW management are the ones claiming they don't owe the players their balances??

I find that astonishing.

New mgmt or old mgmt, they would be claiming the same thing. Do you think the company was set up without leaving the usual corporate escape routes if the shit hit the fan? I'm afraid you're not going to get your balances back, the Drummonds & senior mgmt spent them keeping PL afloat & on their £250K p.a salaries & the money is long gone. Even if you sue the only winners will be the lawyers.

The difference is, the old mgmt did this to you & left the new guys holding the baby. The Drummond brothers & Sara Vincent are 100% responsible for PL's mismanagement & collapse & are the people who stole your money. Apparently, Sara VIncent was involved in stealing from the company shareholders too - Old / Expired Link .

How you get redress is going to be difficult.

 

[questa]

New mgmt or old mgmt, they would be claiming the same thing. Do you think the company was set up without leaving the usual corporate escape routes if the shit hit the fan? I'm afraid you're not going to get your balances back.

How you get redress is going to be difficult.

Yes I know, I already said that above.

What a strange post.

 

[vinylweatherman]

The managers don't OWN the company, new or old. Ultimate responsibilty lies with the shareholders. They benefitted unfairly when the books were being cooked, so if the company has run out of money because of this, the CUSTOMERS should come first, and it is up to the shareholders to go after the corrupt former management that they themselves agreed to appoint at shareholder meetings.

The shareholders would have agreed to the appointment of the new team, and whilst short term gain may be helped by trying to screw over the weakest (the players), long term PAIN is sure to follow. Players lost EVERYTHING they had in the company, so shareholders should be prepared to make the same sacrifice.

If they at least accept their liability, even if they have no means to make redress, they may be able to offer a long term solution to players that involves them having their missing balances shifted over to Intabet, along with a scheme to withdraw it in installments as the new venture starts generating revenue. Doing "the right thing" in this regard would mitigate against the long term pain, and it would then be in players' interests NOT to campaign to have Intabet and other Media Corp ventures subjected to a boycott. At present, a boycott campaign seems to be the ONLY way players are going to get their grievance heard. Even the liquidation process has been constructed so as to ignore the debts owed to players, which has only served to make them even angrier than they were when they found out the company had gone bust and taken their money with it.

In effect, the structure will allow some creditors to unfairly gain preferrential treatment in the distribution of what assets remain, and one thing that is CERTAIN to make matters even worse for Media Corp is an announcement that there is still money left over to be returned to Media Corp after all listed creditors (minus players) have been paid in full.

As an aside, who owes the money to the employees of PL (Malta) who dealt with the day to day operations of the casino and poker room, and who were presumably paid from the revenue generated from these operations, and by the company that stood to make any profits from them.

 

[$97 All in.]

The shareholders, who have also lost very nearly all of their money, have no exposure here.

There is no money left to pay anybody, it has been pissed away by the Drummonds & Vincent - Old / Expired Link

 

[vinylweatherman]

The shareholders, who have also lost very nearly all of their money, have no exposure here.

There is no money left to pay anybody, it has been pissed away by the Drummonds & Vincent - Old / Expired Link

Shareholders know that they face this risk when they invest. Customers of a company take a different risk, which in this case is the risk associated with gambling. They do not knowingly take the risk that a company run from a jurisdiction approved by the UK government because of it's licensing standards (written on bog roll though they are) will use their deposited funds in a dodgy or illegal manner, and then lie to regulators before doing a runner. Customers believe that the law should apply to these high flyers just as it would were THEY to defraud a company and try to lie their way out of it.

It is even more damning that other operators have closed ranks and stuck with Malta through all of this, rather than seek to abandon Malta in favour of, say, Alderney, because the actions (or rather INactions) of the Maltese regulator are systematically destroying trust in the whole regulated industry among players. Alderney did at least hold an inquiry into the actions of Full Tilt bosses over their fiasco, even if they caved in to presure to hold it in a closed hearing. Malta have so far done nothing, they have not even acknowleged a problem even exists, and are claiming that they have "proof" that no player remains unpaid.

 

[jetset]

FWIW this is absolutely confirmed from what I see on the PAB side of things: as useless as spare nipples on a breast plate (ASOIAF ).

Should add that this "letter box" company business is pretty much standard practice in Cyprus, Malta too it seems. There are lawyers there who walk around with briefcases containing dozens and dozens of casinos "registered locally". One guy said his briefcase contained a billion dollars in paper companies. And the paper in those briefcases is about all the presence those casinos have locally too, aside from their wonderful letterbox. It's a scam and a big fat dodge, like registering oil tankers in Liberia to avoid liability for oil spills, etc. Governments let it happen because it pays so well to do so. A casino license from Cyprus is written on bog roll, Malta is no better.

@Max - With the new ban on online gambling in Cyprus, I think that is one jurisdictional fiction that is on the way out; unfortunately Malta is likely to benefit from the exodus of companies that it generates.

@ VWM - very well said, and very pertinent questions - this is why I would like to see a legal challenge. I think the Intabet solution you propose would at least show some willingness on the part of the new management to try and meet the company's moral obligations to players.

@$97 all-in - imo trying to cast the new management in a positive light is a disservice to players; these guys were imo complicit in the contrived and pain-free exit of Drummond and Vincent as part of the Intabet deal, and have subsequently been responsible for the player-exclusive liquidation, a singular lack of sensitivity and communication with the player community and who knows what else being brewed in the Media Corp headquarters.

From a player perspective, trust is an extremely important element in the success of a gambling enterprise; that's a lesson that the new management at Media Corp may have to learn the hard way going forward.

 

[jetset]

For those who did not follow the elliotblog link posted above, the follow-up comments (made in April-July this year) make for very interesting reading.

The blog explores the sale of Media Corp's OnTheBox.com and ForExSpace.com for £250,000 in cash. The registrant information for these two domain names had not at that point been recorded.

However, in the comments following this information are two that are worthy of attention for those interested in the activities of former Purple Lounge boss and interim CEO of Media Corp, Sara Vincent.

Here's two direct quotes:

The first refers to a comment by "Alex", who says:

"http://www.webstatsdomain.com/domains/www.onthebox.com/ so it looks like Chris Gulliver of Netmatters at

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owns it – or holding for who?"

To which "Stacy" responds:

"Sara Vincent (nee Gulliver)’s brother perhaps? MDC website has her as CEO of PLC and so has she sold valuable asset to family or herself through her brother? Would be an interesting story perhaps."

"Jane Kite" then provides this information:

"Sara Vincent (Gulliver) is Chris Gullivers Sister. I also know that she has a financial interest in Net Matters."

And since then we know that Media Corp then re-acquired onthebox in this July 5 stock exchange announcement:

"The Board of Media Corporation plc is pleased to announce that it has reached agreement, with a number of parties, in respect of certain matters raised by the Company, principally concerning the sale of certain of its publishing assets in April 2012. Pursuant to the agreements which have been entered into, the Company will resume full ownership of a number of websites previously sold by the Company including www.onthebox.com and www.flightcomparison.com, as well as receiving a cash settlement of £196,000.

"The Company believes that the websites that it has reacquired have the potential to be profitable and the Board will be working to ensure that maximum value is created from these sites in the future.

"In addition, the Group estimates that c£80,000 of liabilities, relating to separate matters will be removed, across the Group."

Something decidely fishy went on here, Imo. Perhaps the new management caught up on at least some of the deals made by the old?

 

[Mousey]

Is the stock market not interested in such subterfuge and shenanigans? Maybe it happens all the time that listed companies go bust after stealing/losing/hiding stockholders and customer monies?? I'm just so confused and disgusted and .... sick! And I don't even have any money tied up in this mess.

To me, this whole Purple Lounge/Media Corp fiasco reflects badly on the internet gambling business as a whole.

 

[vinylweatherman]

Is the stock market not interested in such subterfuge and shenanigans? Maybe it happens all the time that listed companies go bust after stealing/losing/hiding stockholders and customer monies?? I'm just so confused and disgusted and .... sick! And I don't even have any money tied up in this mess.

To me, this whole Purple Lounge/Media Corp fiasco reflects badly on the internet gambling business as a whole.

They should be, but often such things have to be brought to their attention and investigated. Companies go bust routinely, and it is during the liquidation process that the accounts get looked at again in order to trace any assets that might be recoverable. Liquidators work for the creditors, not the company. It is they that need persuading that something dodgy lead to this mess, and indeed whether prior to this, the company was trading whilst insolvent.

The use of PL (Malta) as a separate entity is a trick often used by companies to make such dodgy dealings harder to track down. It is only one subsidiary that has been voluntarily placed into liquidation, the PL (Malta) company has no assets at all, yet is claimed to hold the liabilities for player balances. This conveniently places this "hot potato" out of UK jurisdiction, and currently out of the remit of the liquidators. This would have to be challenged, possibly in law, to get a ruling that PL (UK) cannot be dealt with separately from PL (Malta).

Such a challenge would have to come from a player owed money who wants to register that claim, but who is currently being told the liabilty does not rest with PL (UK) nor Media Corp, even though it seems every other debt run up by the operation IS the responsibilty of PL (UK).

 

[jetset]

I wonder what the liquidator would make of these disclosures - surely this is pertinent to their duties in winding up PL UK as a subsidiary of Media Corp...or would it nbe blown off as "outside our mandate?"

 

[jetset]

Well, two days ago I asked Media Corp and Chris Gulliver to comment on the report above concerning the sale and reacquisition of OnTheBox.

As usual, no response - it was the same regarding questions concerning players' claims as creditors in the Purple Lounge UK liquidation.

 

[incrediblestuff]

Scandalous, tar and feather those white-collared criminals, their arrogance makes me queesy.

 

[jetset]

MEDIA CORP SETTLES CD CASINO LIMITED LITIGATION (Update)

15 million ordinary shares handed over to make legal action on Gambling.com go away

Media Corp plc management have yet to pay Purple Lounge poker players left stranded by the liquidation of that company (see previous InfoPowa reports), but they have managed to remove litigation launched against the company by CD Casino.com Limited, which has been looming over the troubled company.

In an announcement Thursday Media Corp advised that in return for 15 million of its ordinary shares, CD Casino has settled.

The litigation concerned an alleged breach of contract in an agreement involving Gambling.com, a Media Corp subsidiary that has since been sold off.

The Media Corp announcement notes that: "The Board of Media Corporation has reached a settlement agreement, with CD Casino, in respect of the pending legal claim brought against Media Corp and its subsidiary Search Focus Limited in February 2012. In settlement the Group will issue CD Casino Limited with 15 million ordinary shares.

"Following this announcement the Group has no further outstanding litigation."

 

[vinylweatherman]

MEDIA CORP SETTLES CD CASINO LIMITED LITIGATION (Update)

15 million ordinary shares handed over to make legal action on Gambling.com go away

Media Corp plc management have yet to pay Purple Lounge poker players left stranded by the liquidation of that company (see previous InfoPowa reports), but they have managed to remove litigation launched against the company by CD Casino.com Limited, which has been looming over the troubled company.

In an announcement Thursday Media Corp advised that in return for 15 million of its ordinary shares, CD Casino has settled.

The litigation concerned an alleged breach of contract in an agreement involving Gambling.com, a Media Corp subsidiary that has since been sold off.

The Media Corp announcement notes that: "The Board of Media Corporation has reached a settlement agreement, with CD Casino, in respect of the pending legal claim brought against Media Corp and its subsidiary Search Focus Limited in February 2012. In settlement the Group will issue CD Casino Limited with 15 million ordinary shares.

"Following this announcement the Group has no further outstanding litigation."

...for now

CD Casino.com have been "had". 15 Million x Zero is still Zero, the same "settlement" poker players have had so far.

CD Casino.com should consider getting rid of those shares ASAP before the $h1t hits the fan over the player funds issue.

We also have a precedent, Media Corp settling the liabilty of a subsidiary, yet at the same time claiming it is not responsible for the liabilties of another subsidiary.

The difference is that CD Casino didn't just go away, they called Media Corp's bluff and issued court proceedings, and the desire to make the issue "go away" overwhelmed their principle that they were not liable for the actions of a subsidiary.

So long as Media Corp have money and plans to grow, players can keep up the pressure, and make sure this issue does not fade and die without payment being made in some form.

 

[whatever]

...for now

CD Casino.com have been "had". 15 Million x Zero is still Zero, the same "settlement" poker players have had so far.

CD Casino.com should consider getting rid of those shares ASAP before the $h1t hits the fan over the player funds issue.

That's what they're doing by the looks of it...

 

[jetset]

The decent and honourable thing for these guys to do, and one which would earn them enormous goodwill in the player community, would be to pay the players owed by Purple Lounge without further ado. The indications are that they could afford so to do.

However it seems as if the new management, like the old, still believes they can get away with not doing this.

By the looks of the Media Corp plc.com website the launch of Intabet is imminent, so they do not seem to be anticipating too much player condemnation.

And there is still silence on those questions around the old management's reportedly 'family sale' of domains and their subsequent reacquisition....along with GBP 196,000.

I think it is likely that there are fireworks still in store on this.

 

[vinylweatherman]

The decent and honourable thing for these guys to do, and one which would earn them enormous goodwill in the player community, would be to pay the players owed by Purple Lounge without further ado. The indications are that they could afford so to do.

However it seems as if the new management, like the old, still believes they can get away with not doing this.

By the looks of the Media Corp plc.com website the launch of Intabet is imminent, so they do not seem to be anticipating too much player condemnation.

And there is still silence on those questions around the old management's reportedly 'family sale' of domains and their subsequent reacquisition....along with GBP 196,000.

I think it is likely that there are fireworks still in store on this.

...along with an opportunity to light the blue touchpaper.

Intabet NEEDS the player community, as well as the goodwill of the affiliate community.

Intabet ending up on widespread blacklists would severely dent their credibility, and if they can't get affiliates to market them, they will have to pay far more per acquired player, and many of these will probably be "bonus hunters" who will take Intabet for what they can, and then move on.

 

[binshakindown]

Not to be paranoid (okay I am), but

in an attempt to prevent this in the future, how do we know whether or not this type of financial liability limiting isn't the norm in the industry? Who in the industry would admit this and why would anyone want to admit this? Many understand why corporations even exist. How many casinos are owned by an individual person? One who is not sheltered through an LLC, INC., co. etc? I'll venture to say ZERO. If there were some, then that person would more than likely be personally liable for all problems with the business.

So, my question is: How does one research these things to prevent in the future? From what I gather, this could happen to any player at any casino. I know there are some operators and owners of casinos who are decent folks and have integrity and are in it for the long haul. They may even feel obligated to make good on player funds. However, when a business (good, evil or indifferent) is bankrupt, how will a player ever be made whole when the player is owed?

Here is my idea, an insurance policy for the player's cash in the casino(s). A very complicated scenario, but when do you know of an instance (can only be in the future though, since the past only gives us an idea of what the future may hold) where a player's funds have ever been guaranteed? If done correctly, the insurance companies would be the watch dogs of each player's fund. Then we would need a watch dog for the insurance companies. Yes it would cost money, but the insurance rate would go down if and when you played at reputable casinos.

The alternative could be that players should not expect that their money is ever 100% safe. It seems to happen in many situations and can include a failing bank, stock, government, etc.

IMO, this is a perfect example of why government regulation will not solve this problem of player fund safety. All it will know how to do is tax and tax it will. If one disagrees, look at the failing companies everywhere in the states and such.

So again my question is: How do we prevent this from happening again? Is this even possible?

 

[vinylweatherman]

in an attempt to prevent this in the future, how do we know whether or not this type of financial liability limiting isn't the norm in the industry? Who in the industry would admit this and why would anyone want to admit this? Many understand why corporations even exist. How many casinos are owned by an individual person? One who is not sheltered through an LLC, INC., co. etc? I'll venture to say ZERO. If there were some, then that person would more than likely be personally liable for all problems with the business.

So, my question is: How does one research these things to prevent in the future? From what I gather, this could happen to any player at any casino. I know there are some operators and owners of casinos who are decent folks and have integrity and are in it for the long haul. They may even feel obligated to make good on player funds. However, when a business (good, evil or indifferent) is bankrupt, how will a player ever be made whole when the player is owed?

Here is my idea, an insurance policy for the player's cash in the casino(s). A very complicated scenario, but when do you know of an instance (can only be in the future though, since the past only gives us an idea of what the future may hold) where a player's funds have ever been guaranteed? If done correctly, the insurance companies would be the watch dogs of each player's fund. Then we would need a watch dog for the insurance companies. Yes it would cost money, but the insurance rate would go down if and when you played at reputable casinos.

The alternative could be that players should not expect that their money is ever 100% safe. It seems to happen in many situations and can include a failing bank, stock, government, etc.

IMO, this is a perfect example of why government regulation will not solve this problem of player fund safety. All it will know how to do is tax and tax it will. If one disagrees, look at the failing companies everywhere in the states and such.

So again my question is: How do we prevent this from happening again? Is this even possible?

No way to be sure, but players could always remember "once bitten, twice shy", and be less trusting of a casino operator that has too many similarities to one that has gone bust owing players money. The common factor has been the LGA and their supposed "guarantee" that players' funds are safe from operator collapse because they are held in a separate ring fenced account. Clearly, operators can freely disregard this licensing requirement, and the LGA repeatedly fail to police them, so operators faced with similar problems, and having a similar lack of honour, will do this again. We only ever find out when they get caught out like PL, as when the gamble pays off and they are able to restore player funds, or at least prevent that "run" that exposes them to a crisis, we never know how close things came to disaster.

What caught out PL was their ejection from the MGS poker network, which they portrayed as their own business decision aimed at "improving" the service. Clearly, poker players did not see this as an improvement, and bailed en masse, thus triggering a cash crisis at PL. It later emerged that PL had been in crisis for some time, but had managed to keep this hidden from players and the LGA, partly through borrowing quite a sum from Media Corp. The combination of a mass exodus by poker players and no further backing from Media Corp left them with insufficient funds to cover existing player balances. This may be down to them having used player funds for some time, relying on a balance between income and outgoings to keep the scheme propped up, or they dipped into player funds in order to gamble that they could weather the storm and then return the player funds when they started making money. They had a conflict of interest, as if they shut down PL and paid players, they would be out of a job, a well paid one too for those at the top. By gambling that they could keep afloat by dipping into the segregated player funds, they kept their jobs and salaries for a few extra months, as well as buying time to ensure they had a well honed exit strategy if things went wrong. The odd dealings seen in the run up to the crisis could have been the preparation of this exit strategy, that saw the former bosses bail with full pay, and presumably intact pensions, leaving the new management to break the news that there was no money left, and ordinary staff suddenly found themselves jobless, and players found themselves penniless. Outside of this carefully crafted exit strategy, business is booming, and Media Corp seem to have plenty of cash lying around. Within, staff, suppliers, and players have been left high and dry.

Intabet will no doubt launch with a supply of this fresh money, but should Intabet also run into trouble, do we really expect things will be different with players properly protected.

 

[jetset]

@ binshakindown

The concept of segregated player funds is clearly worthless if the licensing authority (the LGA) is inept and fails to effectively monitor and police it, as we have seen with PL as yet another of the operators who have failed in that jurisdiction...outdated financial numbers etc. However, for the operator I would guess it's all good marketing hype to assure prospective players that due to their licensing requirements they have to segregate player funds, thus rendering the players' deposits safe and inviolable.

Pokerfuse published an interesting and well-researched article recently on the possible use of independent trust funds as an alternative precaution by which player funds can be protected from the depredations of unscrupulous operators, and that makes for interesting reading. It's possibly a more cost-effective alternative to insurance policies, too and it is a well tried and frequently used practice in the financial services and legal worlds.

But as VWM notes above, players have to be cautious when dealing with operators "regulated" by the likes of the LGA, which continues to accrue a particularly unenviable reputation of not giving a stuff about players and as an ineffective and uncommunicative regulator to boot.

And still no responses from Media Corp or Chris Gulliver on those intriguing domain manouevres....time to publish that story I think.

 

[binshakindown]

I guess the best advice would be not to play at a casino when they start fumbling around with prompt pay outs.

 

[vinylweatherman]

I guess the best advice would be not to play at a casino when they start fumbling around with prompt pay outs.

This is often the only sign that things have gone wrong, but we have to try and tell the difference between a genuine technical problem, and one invented to cover the need to stall payments. The problem is that operators with no financial problems also try these stalling tactics in order to squeeze a bit more profit from the operation. Unfortunately for them, there is no way for players to tell the difference, so operators should realise that the recent failures have so severely damaged trust, that ANY meddling with the advertised payout timetables will make players suspicious, and will cause rumours to spread based on the slightest inconsistencies in excuses given by CS to players.

The recent prolonged problems Club World have had with some of their processors has fuelled rumours that they are headed the same way as Rushmore, even though the rep has twice posted a pretty detailed explanation of the reasons for their intermittent payment holdups, which is that they stop using a processor once it appears there are early signs of a problem. This leads to players suddenly facing long delays to their withdrawals.

This is more or less what seems to be happening with Rushmore, but instead of being honest, Rushmore spew out bullshit in an effort to convince players the problems are isolated, when they are clearly widespread.

The PL issue began with a player posting that they had been waiting a month for a standard withdrawal that should have taken days, and were getting strung along with a series of excuses.

Cautious players may decide to use the same approach Club World use with their processors, and stop playing when there are signs that payments are being held up, and not depositing again till the problems have been resolved and payments resumed as normal.

The biggest red flag of all is when a non-US player is having trouble getting paid back to the eWallet they deposited with, and has been told their account is in good standing with documents verified. This rules out the cause as the well known problems with servicing US players. PL, being Microgaming, had NO US players, so should not have had problems paying unless they were in pretty deep financial trouble.

By the time PL's problems came to light, it was too late for players to get their money out. It was poker players that decided to bail straight away when they moved to Entraction that were the lucky ones.

 

[whatever]

Why has the update from 31st May, about Purple Lounge being liquidated, been removed from Media Corp's website?

...rhetorical question obviously

 

[Mousey]

Why has the update from 31st May, about Purple Lounge being liquidated, been removed from Media Corp's website?

...rhetorical question obviously

Because they're not sure which Purple Lounge is being liquidated? the fake one that doesn't exist except on a piece of paper, or the real one that owes players lots and lots of money?

Liquidators wouldn't touch it with a barge pole?

Tongue in cheek obviously...

p.s. ... hope someone saved a screenshot...

 

[specialK]

I don't have screenshot but I saved statament.



Purple Lounge Trading Update
31 May 2012

Media Corporation Plc ("Media Corp" or the "Group")

Purple Lounge Trading Update

Following the acquisition of Intabet Limited, announced on 16 May 2012, Adam Fraser-Harris and Phil Jackson were appointed Interim CEO and Chairman respectively immediately following the departure of Justin Drummond (Previous Executive Chairman) and Sara Vincent (Previous MD of Purple Lounge and Interim CEO of Media Corporation). Since their appointment, Adam and Phil have been conducting a strategic and financial review of the enlarged Group.

It has become clear during the review that the financial and trading position of the Purple Lounge division is no longer tenable due to historic operational and financial failings within the business. Accordingly, it is with regret that the Board announces that it has made all of the staff within that division redundant and will be instructing lawyers to file the relevant documentation to put the relevant companies into liquidation.

The Board will specifically request that the appointed liquidators look into the financial arrangements within the Purple Lounge group of companies and to review the position as to player funds.

The Board regrets any corporate failings in the past and seeks to assure shareholders that it is exploring routes to try, in some way, to mitigate the expected player losses, though this is against a background where the Group has loaned well over £1m to the division since its acquisition in October 2009. The Board does not believe that the Group will incur any further liabilities in respect of Purple Lounge over and above the realisation of the above loan.

Notwithstanding the difficult decision it has made, the Board believes that it can put the poor trading of Purple Lounge behind it and will be working to bring the Group back to profitability, as quickly as possible.

Further announcements will be made as and when appropriate.

Contacts: Media Corporation Plc Tel: +44 20 7618 9000
Phil Jackson - Chairman
Adam Fraser-Harris - Interim CEO
Northland Capital Partners Limited Tel: + 44 20 7796 8800
Luke Cairns / Rod Venables (Nominated Adviser)
Katie Shelton (Joint Broker)
XCAP Securities Tel: + 44 207 101 7070
Jon Bellis / Karen Kelly (Joint Broker)
Bishopsgate Communications Tel: + 44 20 7562 3350


Copyright Business Wire 2012

 

[$97 All in.]

Why has the update from 31st May, about Purple Lounge being liquidated, been removed from Media Corp's website?

...rhetorical question obviously

All announcements here -

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[jetset]

Interesting that this guy who has just acquired a 3 percent plus share in Media Corp is mentioned at post 106 in this thread back in April.

"Andrew Presley,a Media Corporation shareholder working with the help of Sharesoc, Hari Lotay and others,has emailed me to say that he personally called an EGM on Friday the 13th of April. He did not state what his resolutions or proposals were however.
I have emailed the company to check the validity of this claim but they have not responded.
By law, if an EGM has been properly called the company has 21 days to inform all members (shareholders). We will all therefore know no later than Friday 4th May if an EGM was indeed called for on the 13th and what Mr Presley and his supporters are proposing."

 

[jetset]

A little birdie sent me this snippet of interesting information regarding the present whereabouts of Sara Vincent:

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We're moving offices today to a bright new space in Southwark opposite the Shard! Here's our Editor Drew, Markets Writer Sarah Cox and Managing Director Sara Vincent gathering the last few news pieces and sending the last few emails as we prepare to move - track our progress on Facebook and Twitter using #ForexSpacemove

Forexspace was one of the Media Corp domains sold off whilst Vincent was interim CEO.

 

[jetset]

The LGA may be useless, but it appears that Alderney has learned from the FTP debacle and is taking steps to better protect players:


AGCC INSISTS ON FUND SEGREGATION IN AMENDMENT TO REGS

Commission revises licensee policies

The Alderney Gambling Control Commission has made amendments to Category 1 eGambling licensee regulations, amongst others, in a bid to rebuild its reputation following the Full Tilt debacle.

The Commission now expects licensees to hold registered customers' credits in an exclusively assigned bank account utilized solely for that purpose. Licensee's will be expected to deliver proof to the Commission both on demand and via a monthly report. However, a further amendment notes that exceptions may be made, at the discretion of the Commission, where "a person has provided a written guarantee".

Other amendments to the regulations that affect licensees include:

- An AGCC approved customer notification mechanism in the case of insolvency,

- An approved internal control system detailing each bank account holding funds standing to the credit of its registered customers.

The full text of the regulation amendments can be read at :

Old / Expired Link

 

[Kvacke]

Starting a group.

Hi.

Im a pokerplayer on purple lounge thats missing my balance since the closure happend on 23rd of april. In this thread I have seen a good bunch of information over the situation. Thank you for this and all the good post that has been made here.
What I wanted to say, and therfore signed up to this forum, is that I have came a across a few others in the same situation as me and we are now putting togheter a group of people that have a claim of money from the Purple Lounge.
So I wanted to post here aswell and letting you know that we want as many players that are owed as possible to join in on our group.
So owed purpleloungeplayers, if you see this, write to and become members of this group here:
[email protected]
Thank you and gl everybody.

 

[jetset]

It's great to see players standing up for themselves in this disgraceful issue - it's intolerable to think of corporate smartasses getting away with screwing the players by manipulating the business and the liquidators.

I thought the creditors meeting was on July 23rd, but perhaps something can still be done.

Have you been watching the guys over at twoplustwo, who I'm told were also forming a group with a class action in mind? Strength in unity and all that....

Good luck with your initiative, which I'm sure most of us morally support.

I hope you will use this thread to keep us up to date on developments.

 

[jetset]

This exec served five years with Media Corp plc, held company shares, and would have been privy to much of the corporate manouevreing by both old and new management at Media Corp on the Purple Lounge affair....now he's gone. I wonder whether he's joined Drummond or Vincent in their new enterprises?

FINANCE DIRECTOR LEAVES MEDIA CORP (Update)

For reasons undisclosed

Media Corp, the parent company of the disgraced Purple Lounge Group, has announced the departure of group finance director Nilesh Jagatia with specific reasons undisclosed other than to say he has left to "pursue other interests".

Jagatia, who joined the group in June 2007, additionally served as company secretary, Board director and an audit committee member.

Media Corp's board said it was in the process of finalising the appointment of further directors and senior staff towards strengthening the Company's management going forward.

 

[jetset]

And look where Mr Jagatia has gone to - Ascend Capital plc - Justin Drummond's latest venture. It appears that birds of a feather really do flock together.


NEW MEDIA CORP DIRECTORS

Parent of failed Purple Lounge online poker room appoints two new directors

The departure of former finance director Nilesh Jagatia earlier this week appears to have triggered board changes and appointments at Media Corp plc.

On Friday company chairman, Phil Jackson, announced the appointment of Mark Butt (34), managing director of subsidiary Eyeconomy, to the board of Media Corporation plc as an executive director, at the same time welcoming finance manager Clive Eplett, who replaces Jagatia.

Butt, has been with the company as managing director of Eyeconomy since 2007, and his appointment to the main board gives the digital advertising business the board level recognition it deserves, Jackson said.

Eplett trained and qualified as a chartered accountant in 1984 with Deloitte Haskins & Sells and subsequently spent two years with Coopers & Lybrand before joining SFI Group plc in 1991 where he became finance director and subsequently joint managing director. He left SFI in September 2001 since when he has focussed on acting as either part-time or interim financial director, usually to growing businesses but often working with those facing difficulties.

The erstwhile financial director at Media Corp plc, Nilesh Jagatia, has joined former Media Corp chairman Justin Drummond in his new venture - Ascend Capital plc - as a director.

 

[Mousey]

And look where Mr Jagatia has gone to - Ascend Capital plc - Justin Drummond's latest venture. It appears that birds of a feather really do flock together.


NEW MEDIA CORP DIRECTORS

Parent of failed Purple Lounge online poker room appoints two new directors

The departure of former finance director Nilesh Jagatia earlier this week appears to have triggered board changes and appointments at Media Corp plc.

On Friday company chairman, Phil Jackson, announced the appointment of Mark Butt (34), managing director of subsidiary Eyeconomy, to the board of Media Corporation plc as an executive director, at the same time welcoming finance manager Clive Eplett, who replaces Jagatia.

Butt, has been with the company as managing director of Eyeconomy since 2007, and his appointment to the main board gives the digital advertising business the board level recognition it deserves, Jackson said.

Eplett trained and qualified as a chartered accountant in 1984 with Deloitte Haskins & Sells and subsequently spent two years with Coopers & Lybrand before joining SFI Group plc in 1991 where he became finance director and subsequently joint managing director. He left SFI in September 2001 since when he has focussed on acting as either part-time or interim financial director, usually to growing businesses but often working with those facing difficulties.

The erstwhile financial director at Media Corp plc, Nilesh Jagatia, has joined former Media Corp chairman Justin Drummond in his new venture - Ascend Capital plc - as a director.

Ascend Capital

I've just got to say it.... What's in their wallet?? (referencing a Captial One ad that runs here in the states)

I wonder who is the next target for fleecing?

Basic information about company ASCEND CAPITAL PLC
Company Number 07901213
Registered Office
1 POULTRY
LONDON
UNITED KINGDOM
EC2R 8JR
Company Origin United Kingdom
Country England
County Greater London
Borough City of London
Postcode London - EC2R 8
Company GPS lat: 51.513572, long: -0.090713
accuracy: address level

More information about company ASCEND CAPITAL PLC
Company Status Active
Company Type Public Limited Company
Incorporation Date 09/01/2012


Phone at 192.com
Next Accounts Due 09/07/2013
Accounts document Show Company documents
Next Return Due 06/02/2013
Return document Show Company documents

Warning
This is public information provided by official company register. Materials about company: ASCEND CAPITAL PLC have been prepared for information purposes only. They are not intended to be nor do they constitute legal advice. Data could have changed since the last update! This page shows information about ASCEND CAPITAL PLC whose registered office according to registrar of companies is:
1 POULTRY
LONDON
UNITED KINGDOM

 

[jetset]

Every time the names Drummond and Vincent crop up it should be flagged imo - after the way they treated PL players they need to be monitored in case they again try to get into the industry where they were so contemptuous of the player community. The same applies to Media Corp plc, which has imv treated PL players abominably.

I would guess that like the proverbial bad pennies, they will turn up again.

 

[$97 All in.]

Jetset,

Please post links when you are quoting sources.

 

[jetset]

Not a mention of the Purple Lounge debacle and the still disadvantaged players that entailed in this new trading update from Media Corp...but they're gearing up momentum on the Intabet front with a Tote deal.

Given the background to this company and the extensive coverage available on Google, I am surprised that Betfred entertained a deal with these guys.

QUOTE:


Media Corporation Plc, the AIM quoted digital advertising network and online gaming group, is pleased to announce solid commercial progress in both its divisions and also in terms of its funding position.

Highlights

· Eyeconomy, Media Corporation's digital advertising agency, extends exclusive agreement with Digital Sports Group for a further two years

· Intabet, the Company's unique online gaming platform, signs deal with Totepool.com

· Media Corporation agrees revised terms to the loan facility announced in May 2012

Eyeconomy, its digital advertising agency, has extended its exclusive agreement with Digital Sports Group ("DSG") for a further two years following the renewal of its agreement. The renewal agreement sees Eyeconomy reappointed as sole representative for advertising space across the Digital Sports Group portfolio of websites. Eyeconomy has the exclusive rights to sell advertising space across their portfolio, as well as providing ad serving to DSG. Their portfolio includes leading sports focused sites such as footymad.net; football.co.uk; rugby.co.uk; tennis.co.uk; boxing.co.uk; golf.co.uk and motorsport.co.uk among others, giving a total of some 150,000,000 impressions per month.

In addition Intabet, the Company's unique online gaming platform, has signed heads of terms with totepool.com to become one of Intabet's launch partners. With a heritage dating back to 1928 when it was founded by the UK government, totepool.com is part of the Betfred Group and the home of online pool betting. With over 500 betting shops and outlets at over 60 racecourses totepool.com is one of the industry's best known names. Intabet is aiming to deliver a truly innovative product to the world of bookmaking which offers the customer real value and our partners a fully managed new source of high quality customers. The Board is delighted to announce such a prestigious name as a launch partner and looks forward to providing further updates on the launch of the site in due course.

The Board of Media Corporation plc has also agreed revised terms to the loan facility announced in May 2012 including an extension for a further 12 months to 15 May 2014 and the issue of a warrant instrument that allows the loan provider to subscribe for up to £750,000 at a price of 0.4p. The warrants will be allotted to the lender in a 2-to-1 proportion to the amount of loan drawn down in £50,000 tranches and the warrants, once allotted, must be exercised on or before 31 December 2012, at which point the warrants, and the ability to be awarded any more on a draw down lapse. This gives the Company funding security due to the loan extension alongside the potential additional funding of up to £750,000 of equity investment before the 31 December 2012 to drive the Company forward. The Company intends to make the first draw down of £100,000 today and will be allotting the corresponding £200,000 of warrants later today.

Eddie Bennett, Head of totepool.com, said: "We are delighted to be a launch partner of Intabet. Football betting turnover is a key area that we want to grow in order to complement our market leading horse racing product. We're confident Intabet will offer convenient betting and excellent value to football fans whilst delivering high volumes of vetted bets directly to totepool.com. The model and platform are innovative and we are delighted to be there from the kick-off. We will continue to work with the team at Intabet as they add other sports betting opportunities to the site."

Adam Fraser-Harris, Interim CEO, commented: "Over the past two months we have been working hard to bring about real change, focusing on reducing costs and putting in place firm foundations upon which to build value back into Media Corporation. The announcement of these two agreements with market leading players alongside the recent management team changes and the extension of our funding line are a reflection of some of that effort and the management team's growing confidence for the future and we look forward to making f

 

[$97 All in.]

Not a mention of the Purple Lounge debacle and the still disadvantaged players that entailed in this new trading update from Media Corp...but they're gearing up momentum on the Intabet front with a Tote deal.

Given the background to this company and the extensive coverage available on Google, I am surprised that Betfred entertained a deal with these guys.

QUOTE:


Media Corporation Plc, the AIM quoted digital advertising network and online gaming group, is pleased to announce solid commercial progress in both its divisions and also in terms of its funding position.

Highlights

· Eyeconomy, Media Corporation's digital advertising agency, extends exclusive agreement with Digital Sports Group for a further two years

· Intabet, the Company's unique online gaming platform, signs deal with Totepool.com

· Media Corporation agrees revised terms to the loan facility announced in May 2012

Eyeconomy, its digital advertising agency, has extended its exclusive agreement with Digital Sports Group ("DSG") for a further two years following the renewal of its agreement. The renewal agreement sees Eyeconomy reappointed as sole representative for advertising space across the Digital Sports Group portfolio of websites. Eyeconomy has the exclusive rights to sell advertising space across their portfolio, as well as providing ad serving to DSG. Their portfolio includes leading sports focused sites such as footymad.net; football.co.uk; rugby.co.uk; tennis.co.uk; boxing.co.uk; golf.co.uk and motorsport.co.uk among others, giving a total of some 150,000,000 impressions per month.

In addition Intabet, the Company's unique online gaming platform, has signed heads of terms with totepool.com to become one of Intabet's launch partners. With a heritage dating back to 1928 when it was founded by the UK government, totepool.com is part of the Betfred Group and the home of online pool betting. With over 500 betting shops and outlets at over 60 racecourses totepool.com is one of the industry's best known names. Intabet is aiming to deliver a truly innovative product to the world of bookmaking which offers the customer real value and our partners a fully managed new source of high quality customers. The Board is delighted to announce such a prestigious name as a launch partner and looks forward to providing further updates on the launch of the site in due course.

The Board of Media Corporation plc has also agreed revised terms to the loan facility announced in May 2012 including an extension for a further 12 months to 15 May 2014 and the issue of a warrant instrument that allows the loan provider to subscribe for up to £750,000 at a price of 0.4p. The warrants will be allotted to the lender in a 2-to-1 proportion to the amount of loan drawn down in £50,000 tranches and the warrants, once allotted, must be exercised on or before 31 December 2012, at which point the warrants, and the ability to be awarded any more on a draw down lapse. This gives the Company funding security due to the loan extension alongside the potential additional funding of up to £750,000 of equity investment before the 31 December 2012 to drive the Company forward. The Company intends to make the first draw down of £100,000 today and will be allotting the corresponding £200,000 of warrants later today.

Eddie Bennett, Head of totepool.com, said: "We are delighted to be a launch partner of Intabet. Football betting turnover is a key area that we want to grow in order to complement our market leading horse racing product. We're confident Intabet will offer convenient betting and excellent value to football fans whilst delivering high volumes of vetted bets directly to totepool.com. The model and platform are innovative and we are delighted to be there from the kick-off. We will continue to work with the team at Intabet as they add other sports betting opportunities to the site."

Adam Fraser-Harris, Interim CEO, commented: "Over the past two months we have been working hard to bring about real change, focusing on reducing costs and putting in place firm foundations upon which to build value back into Media Corporation. The announcement of these two agreements with market leading players alongside the recent management team changes and the extension of our funding line are a reflection of some of that effort and the management team's growing confidence for the future and we look forward to making f

Link?

 

[DiamondGeezer]

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

It's like the young wife re-marrying when the corpse is still warm .

 

[jetset]

What's really infuriating is that they have access to sufficient funds to pay the players, yet they appear intent on continuing to ignore the company's moral obligation to do so.

And it appears they are getting away with it, at least so far.

 

[Kvacke]

playerclaimgroup

I want to bump on the group I posted about a page back. The group has been growing to a decent number now, but I hope more owed players of purple lounge email to [email protected]

We want as many of you that are owed as possible to send an email to us and become member of the group.

Also feel free to email any information you think can help the players in their claim of their money to the same emailadress.

Gl to everybody.

 

[vinylweatherman]

It might be worth players emailing Betfred with requests for clarification of what would happen were Intabet to go bust in a similar manner to PL. If Betfred respond with the bog standard "don't worry.... segregated accounts, LGA regulated", they could ask why the same arrangement Betfred are so sure about failed to protect the players at Purple Lounge, and how can the SAME company be trusted to behave any differently the next time without someone forcing them to.

Bryan better start working on that new accommodation, as it looks like Intabet is about to move in With PL Poker, even the network washed their hands of the issue, so using Intabet even only as a conduit to Betfred or Totepool could leave a failed Intabet, not Betfred, liable for player balances if the worst happens.


The Media Corp spin team must have done a good number on the Betfred team, and it seems they swallowed their generous helping of BS pie without a grimace.


The ONLY way Media Corp is going to put this fire out is by finding a way to pay the players what is owed, and then put in place a system that cannot be tampered with by the company to preserve all future client balances.

 

[akrus88]

omg

Oh my god.. a confusing thread. I red maybe the first 9 pages of this. Seemed very odd to me, that it took over two months of serious payment delays and the whole casino shutting down. Untill it was taken down from the accredited list..
Makes me think I'll have to check out the forum threads before depositing -- instead of just blindly trusting to the accredited list.

Ofcourse everybodys human and mistakes are made. But I just was amazed while readin on and on, before a post about the casino taken down from the accredited list came.

 

[pokeraddict]

This totepool.com deal is simply Intabet offering a software platform for a division of Betfred or is there more involvement that Betfred players should be concerned about?

 

[vinylweatherman]

This totepool.com deal is simply Intabet offering a software platform for a division of Betfred or is there more involvement that Betfred players should be concerned about?

It didn't seem to help poker players that PL was simply an access portal to the network. The real issue is who is responsible for the money, the portal provider, or the network on which play takes place.

Why would one need a "portal" such as Intabet rather than simply going direct with a Betfred account? It looks like the Intabet idea might be to have one account that grants access to a range of betting sites and their odds without the need to register at each, and log on at each, in order to get the best odds for your bet.

If your bankroll sits on Intabet, with only placed bet stakes being sent to the betting site, then it is a very BIG risk to players, as the bulk of their money would be "protected" by the LGA and segregated accounting, the same way players were "protected" when PL went under.

 

[jetset]

More money for Media Corp plc:


20 August 2012

Media Corporation Plc

Issue of Equity

Media Corporation, the AIM quoted digital advertising network and online gaming group, announces that 50,000,000 ordinary shares of 0.1p each have today been issued and allotted following an exercise of warrants by the Company's loan facility provider, further details of which were announced on 10 August 2012. The exercise provides the Company with a further £200,000, strengthening its working capital position.Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for the new ordinary shares to be admitted to trading on AIM. Admission is expected to occur and dealings are expected to commence at 8.00am on 24 August 2012.

While the shareholdings of the Directors of Media Corporation (the "Directors") and their interests remain the same, following the issue of the new ordinary shares and as a result of the increase of shares in issue, the revised percentage holdings of the Directors are as follows:

Phil Jackson 3,433,811 0.58 percent of company

Adam Fraser-Harris 3,433,811 0.58

Mark Butt 3,000,000 0.51

John Palmer 650,000 0.11

Following the issue of the new ordinary shares, the enlarged issued ordinary share capital of the Company is 592,806,853 ordinary shares of 0.1p each.