Disgraced German payments firm Wirecard had processed payments for a Maltese online gambling company that was later found to have laundered money for the ’Ndrangheta, one of Italy and Europe’s most powerful mafia organizations.
The Financial Times reports that the payment processor processed payments for CenturionBet through 2017. That year the Malta-based online gambling operator was accused of maintaining a commercial relationship with a company controlled by members of the ’Ndrangheta.
CenturionBet was believed to have been used by organized criminals to launder millions of euros of criminal proceeds out of the country in a sophisticated operation.
The online gambling operator was linked to the Arena clan, a powerful group from Italy’s Calabria region that is part of the ’Ndrangheta. According to legal documents, the group’s activities included extortion, illegal gambling, and drug trafficking.
In addition, the Arena clan was in charge of the St. Anna center for social rehabilitation and integration of refugees, known to be one of Europe’s largest migrant centers. The powerful mafia group was believed to have siphoned off millions of euros intended to provide critical food support for migrants arriving from north Africa.
CenturionBet had its license suspended by the Malta Gaming Authority in 2017 as the company’s operations were shut down after a major anti-mafia operation in Italy that saw more than 60 people arrested and around €20 million seized.
Wirecard’s Downfall
Wirecard went from fintech star and analyst darling to admitting in June that a large portion of its operations were likely fictitious.
On June 18, the company was valued at more than $14 billion. A week later, it filed for insolvency after revealing that around $2 billion in missing money it had told its auditors had been in a pair of Philippine banks probably never existed.
Wirecard is now being investigated whether it used fictional revenue to inflate its sales and fool its investors. The company’s CEO has been arrested in Germany for fraud, while its COO has fled the country.
As a regulated payment processing firm, Wirecard was required to follow strict anti-money laundering rules and regulations and to always report suspicious transactions to competent regulatory bodies. According to legal documents obtained by the Financial Times, Wirecard also moved funds for another Malta-licensed online gambling operator that Italian authorities have named to have laundered huge amounts of money for organized criminal groups.
It should be noted that Wirecard may have not been aware that the gambling companies it serviced were linked to Italian mafia. A former Wirecard staff member told the Financial Times that after reports of mafia links at the latter gambling company emerged across different media outlets, the payment processing firm carried out a compliance review which the gambling operator passed “on the basis of assurances provided.”
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on the day’s top casino news stories
