The websites that were operating under CenturionBet’s licence were not permitted to be operational by the MGA, however, until recently Bet1128’s website still had the Authority’s logo and the suspended licence number displayed.
Whilst CenturionBet said that the MGA had noted irregularities in their procedural contracts with consultants, it also so happens that ‘Jonny’, an anti-mafia operation carried out this May, has linked CenturionBet’s operations to ’Ndrangheta – an organised crime gang centred in Calabria. The crime syndicate reportedly earned €1.3 million in the span of 1.5 years for allowing the gaming company to set up internet-connected operations on their territory.
The investigation that was carried out by Italy’s finance police concluded that CenturionBet, with the help of Francesco Martiradonna, allowed access to its online system to Kroton Games – a company with connections to ’Ndrangheta – in order to transfer huge amounts of money.
Bet1128 was originally owned by the Martiradonna family before the gaming franchise was moved in 2009 from the UK to Malta to stop their assets being seized by a police investigation. At the time they were being looked into by anti-mafia police who were closing in on them, thus, by moving they avoided their British assets being apprehended. In November of 2009, Bet1128, along with 11 other assets, were sold to the Malta-based company CenturionBet.
Despite the Martiradonna family denying any involvement in the operations of the Maltese company, Il Fatto Quotidiano has published evidence which shows that Martiradonna’s two sons have listed themselves on LinkedIn as the managers of a number of gambling operations running from the same address as CenturionBet.
Fabio Maggesi, Bet1128’s lawyer, described the company as a strong brand that is compliant with Maltese and European laws.
The MGA told MaltaToday that the technical standards, due diligence, and regulatory oversight are “world class and go beyond what other European gaming regulators perform… it is untrue and misleading to allege that Malta is used by online gambling companies to operate illegally in Italy.”
Two years ago there was a major crackdown on the illegal operations of the Malta-licensed online betting site Betuniq by the Italian authorities as they were also accused of having connections with ’Ndrangheta. As a result, the MGA suspended the licences of a number of associated online operators.
