Malta Live Dealer Company Directors Arrested (Update)
By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Nov 24, 2017
Italian police allege that illegal gambling parlours across Italy were linked to controlling servers at live dealer company in Malta
The current Italian police blitz on illegal gambling parlours across Italy included evidence that the parlours were linked to servers at the Malta live dealer provider MediaLive Ltd, according to police and prosecutor comments last week (see previous InfoPowa reports.)
This week the Times of Malta commented on the investigations, revealing that the Italian police have arrested MediaLive’s two directors, Massimiliano Fullin and Fabio Veglianetti on suspicion of involvement in the multi-million Euro illegal gambling ring, following months of intensive investigation.
The arrests were among seven announced by the police in Operation Doppio Jack, in which 24 gaming parlours in six Italian regions are reportedly involved, allegedly offering clandestine gambling activities not recorded by the Italian fiscal authorities.
Prosecutors have claimed that up to Euro 10 million a month was earned by the ring using a system connected to MediaLive’s Malta-based servers, running in parallel with the company’s Malta licensed and legitimate live dealer gambling enterprise.
The Florence prosecutor’s office claimed last week: “The 24 gaming parlours were controlled remotely through the servers in Malta and all the money exchanged ended up going through the Maltese servers in various bank accounts on the island.”
Italian police attempts to freeze Malta bank accounts have reportedly thus far been frustrated due to “international relations” and “legal obstacles.
Contacted for comment by the Times of Malta, the local Malta Gaming Authority said that it was monitoring the case closely, adding:
“It is yet unclear whether there is a direct nexus between the MGA licence and the accusations being made by the Italian authorities against this company, given [the company’s] global links with other gaming jurisdictions.”
The MGA spokesman said that the regulator has not yet been approached by the Italian authorities on the issue.
Infopowa news was a staple of Casinomeister’s news from 2000 until 2019. Brian Cullingworth was the main writer, contributor, and was one of the most knowledgeable persons I have ever known involved in the online casino industry.
We first met in January 2001 at the ICE in London where I observed him going booth to booth interviewing online casino, software, and licensing jurisdiction representatives. Brian was also heavily involved with our forum as “Jetset“, he was involved as an informal consultant to eCOGRA, the OPA, and was a player advocate who assisted countless aggrieved players with his connections to industry folks. He also published “Casino Cautions” via Infopowa news for quite a number of years. These can be found in our news archives.
His passing in February 2019 was a dark day for us. He will be forever missed.
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