By Amphora Media, IRPI Media
Malta-registered betting company E-Play 24 ITA Ltd has surfaced in an investigation by Italian prosecutors into a Malta-Italy network suspected of illegal online gambling operations, an investigation by Amphora Media and IRPI Media has found.
According to media reports, the alleged scheme detailed by Italian prosecutors mirrors another identified in previous law enforcement investigations into gambling-related tax evasion.
In the alleged scheme, betting sites with the Italian web domain “.it”, which is a legal requirement for Italian gambling sites, are used as a facade for bets that are actually sent to sites with the global commercial domain “.com”.
Prosecutors suspect that this allows operators to evade Italian tax authorities.
Investigative records in the ongoing probe, named “Kappa”, show that two Italian sites were allegedly used in such a scheme. Both sites were owned by E-Play 24 ITA, according to a judicial ordinance authorising arrest warrants from a court in Messina, Italy.
The investigation into the online gambling network’s activity spans the period from 2018 to this year.
Iosif Galea, the former MGA official convicted of tax evasion and currently facing financial crime charges in Malta, had links to companies connected to E Play 24 ITA during the period when it was under investigation.
However, his most prominent roles within E Play 24 ITA took place in 2015, which was three years before the period Italian investigators are focusing on. He is not mentioned in the documents reviewed by reporters.
Company records show that several companies were linked by shareholding and can be considered affiliated. Malta Business Registry records analysed by Amphora Media and IRPI Media show that from May 2014 to November 2021, Galea was a director of one of the companies affiliated with the firm. He was the director of a second affiliated firm between 2016 and 2021.
Records show that Galea’s executive position as a director at E-Play 24 ITA was in June and July 2015, three years before the period Italian investigators are focusing on. He also held executive positions in another firm that had the same shareholder as the company.
He was also the director and legal representative of E-Play 24 ITA’s then main shareholding company between July and August 2016.
The affiliated companies are not mentioned in the Kappa investigation. Galea did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.
Role of Directors
According to Maltese law, directors of Malta-registered companies, such as E-Play 24 ITA, are responsible for the general governance of the company and the supervision of its affairs. They are bound to “act honestly and in good faith.”
Under Maltese gaming regulations, directors of companies holding a gaming license are “required to have full knowledge, understanding and access to the [license holder’s] operations”.
Ambrose Muscat, a Maltese financial compliance and anti-money laundering expert, explained: “The role of the board of directors is to approve a business plan, agree on a strategy to achieve it, and ensure the business has adequate resources to meet its objectives whilst remaining compliant with the various laws and regulations applicable to the company.”.
“All directors are deemed to be accountable for any malfeasance or lack of compliance by the company on whose board they sit,” Muscat added.
While E-Play 24 ITA is named in the Italian prosecution documents, company representative Donato Menechella said the firm “is completely unrelated” to the investigation, and has “not received any requests from the judiciary.”
He added that, in 2022, E-Play 24 ITA “was acquired by an international group whose majority shares are held by the Cirsa Group.”
Founded in 1978 in Spain, Cirsa Group describes itself on its website as an international network of companies involved in manufacturing and managing recreational products and centres. Cirsa Group did not respond to a request for comment before publication.
E-Play 24 ITA said that, upon reading media reports naming some of the individuals under investigation, the company acted by “immediately suspending all commercial relations with them.”
Galea’s other business operations under law enforcement scrutiny
In 2022, Galea was found guilty of evading over 1.7 million euros in taxes through an unrelated Malta-registered company he ran. The firm offered sports betting to customers in Germany, where operators of the company’s software forwarded the bets they collected to its branch in Malta, the German judgement shows.
In 2023, Galea was charged with financial crimes in Malta, according to an August 2023 court order that froze his assets and is still in force. Local media reported that Galea has denied the allegations against him, which include unexplained transfers of more than €150,000 to a Malta Gaming Authority official and his wife.
While Galea did not respond to questions about his pending case in Malta, it does not appear to have been resolved yet. The court has not published its judgement, as is customary when a case is resolved, and the order to freeze his assets is still listed on Malta’s Asset Bureau website.
Iosif Galea, 44, currently faces money laundering charges in Malta, according to a court order freezing his assets. He has pleaded not guilty in the case, which reportedly involves unexplained payments to a gaming official..
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