Unlicensed Online Casino Operator Fined €2.34 Million by Malta Regulator
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Malta’s gambling watchdog has slapped a record fine on an unlicensed online casino operator as the tiny Mediterranean island nation is trying to repair its reputation after damning criticism that it has not been doing enough to tackle financial crime within its thriving online gambling sector.
In a statement published Thursday on its official website, the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) said that it has issued a record €2.34 million penalty package to Blackrock Media Limited, a Malta-based online gambling company, for providing unauthorized services.
The MGA said that it has imposed the penalty after joint investigations conducted by the regulator itself and the Executive Police discovered that the company “was processing payments to and from players as part of a gaming service which was not duly authorized.”
The regulatory agency also noted on Thursday that the seven-figure penalty “has been paid in terms of a settlement” which has been reached with the MGA under Article 25 of the Maltese Gaming Act.
According to local news outlet Malta Today, Blackrock Media is owned by Blackrock Entertainment B.V., whose flagship online casino brand WildSultan.com is licensed in Curacao. Malta Today also identified Anthony Debono, a local businessman who co-owns a wine trading company with Malta Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia, as director of Blackrock Media.
It should also be noted that Blackrock Media was named in the Paradise Papers, a huge leak of 13.4 million documents that threw light on the offshore financial dealings of the world’s richest and most powerful.
Record Fine Proof Institutions Work Diligently
Commenting on the MGA’s most recent punitive actions against irregularities in Malta’s iGaming sector, Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services Silvio Schembri said that Blackrock Media being fined was a proof that Maltese institutions “work diligently, efficiently, and effectively.”
The €2.34 million fine slapped on the errant operator was the highest ever issued by the Malta Gaming Authority, which according to Mr. Schembri “proves the credibility and seriousness the authority operates with to safeguard the reputation of the Maltese jurisdiction in this field.”
The official went on to say that the recent regulatory action that was the result from the joint work between the MGA and Maltese police “is a clear proof of the Maltese government’s commitment in implementing recommendations put forward last year in the MONEYVAL report in strengthening the measures taken so far by the current administration.”
Mr. Schembri’s comments came in the wake of a report by MONEYVAL that slammed Malta for failing to tackle financial crime in an adequate manner and highlighted the risks of its booming banking and online gambling sectors. MONEYVAL is a Council of Europe-backed monitoring body that is tasked with assessing European countries’ compliance with the principal international standards to counter money laundering and other financial crimes.
The agency’s report contained 58 recommendations for Malta to implement in order to better understand, investigate, and prosecute “cases related to financial, bribery, and corruption offences.”
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