Tag: malta

  • Spain Overtakes ‘Classic’ UK As A Leading Abortion Destination For Maltese Residents

    Spain Overtakes ‘Classic’ UK As A Leading Abortion Destination For Maltese Residents

    by Joanna Demarco

    The United Kingdom is no longer the primary destination for Maltese residents seeking abortions abroad. Official data analysed by Amphora Media, as part of the European cross-border investigation Exporting Abortion, coordinated by Público (Spain), reveals that Spain has now surpassed the UK in the number of women from Malta travelling there for the procedure.

    Public records and freedom of information requests show that Spain has seen a rise in numbers from Malta over the past few years, despite the UK historically being the ‘classic’ choice.

    According to experts, the Netherlands is also a common destination among Maltese women, though Dutch authorities do not document specific figures for Malta, among other countries.

    Why Are More Women Choosing Spain?

    The number of Maltese residents travelling to the UK for abortions began to decline in 2020, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the shift in abortion travel patterns appears to have been influenced by multiple factors.

    According to abortion researcher and Abortion Support Network volunteer Liza Caruana Finkel, this trend may also have been influenced by Brexit, which could be complicating visa requirements for non-EU nationals residing in Malta. 

    One other significant factor is the increased awareness and use of abortion pills for early pregnancy terminations (up to 12 weeks). However, for women seeking abortions after this period, travelling abroad is the only option.

    Malta has the strictest abortion laws in the EU – allowing a legal abortion only in cases where  a woman has a medical complication which may put her life at immediate risk or that places her health in grave jeopardy which may lead to death.

    While between 2010 and 2019, an average of 55 Maltese residents per year travelled to the UK for abortion services, this number dropped dramatically to 20 in 2020, just 4 in 2021, and 13 in 2022. The figures for 2023 have yet to be published.

    Meanwhile, Spain has steadily increased, rising from 7 in 2019, to 14 in 2022 and 27 in 2023.

    The Exporting Abortion investigation found that Spain is one of the European countries that receives the most women seeking abortions. 

    An analysis of different European laws and country-specific situations by the investigative team highlights that Spain is likely a popular country of choice due to several factors: it is in the European Union, it is one of the countries with easier access to abortion (upon request till 14 weeks, however relatively easy to access abortion until 22 weeks in some regions) and the procedures are cheaper than in countries like the Netherlands and the UK(which have longer timeframes than Spain for abortions on request).

    Additionally, a change in legislation in Spain in 2023 now permits 16- and 17-year-olds to access abortion without parental consent, and Spain and Malta are well-connected by air travel.

    map visualization

    5 Women Have Had Abortions in Malta Under New Law

    A total of five women have had legal abortions in Malta following Malta’s 2023 legal amendment. A freedom of information request has revealed that four of these abortions took place in 2024 and one in 2023. There have been no procedures so far in 2025.

    According to the law, a medical team consisting of two gynaecologists or obstetricians, one of whom would be the professional to carry out the termination, and a third specialist in the field related to the health issue affecting the woman must give the go-ahead prior to the procedure being carried out. 

    However, the Health Ministry’s Department for Policy in Health could not provide the number of times when a decision by the doctors’ committee did not result in the termination of a pregnancy, saying that they “have no visibility of additional ‘unsuccessful’ discussions.”

    The 2023 legal amendment came about in reaction to the case of US national Andrea Prudente, who was denied an abortion in Malta in June 2022, despite experiencing severe pregnancy complications and the risk of infection after her fetus was deemed non-viable. A non-viable fetus is one that cannot survive outside the womb.

    Prudente had to be medically evacuated to Spain to terminate the pregnancy. The case threw Malta’s extremely restrictive abortion laws in the spotlight and sparked international criticism.

    The bill slightly shifted criminal law surrounding abortion from a total blanket ban to allowing for the procedure in cases where women’s lives are in imminent danger. 

    Activists had argued that the revised bill does not sufficiently safeguard women’s health, as it excludes situations where her health is severely compromised. Malta’s abortion laws remain the most restrictive in the EU, making no exceptions to survivors of rape or incest.

    More than 5,000 European women have to travel abroad every year to get an abortion

    The international investigation Exporting Abortion quantifies for the first time how, even today, thousands of women across Europe cross the borders of their home countries to access an abortion, due to the obstacles that still exist in many states when it comes to termination of pregnancy – even in cases where abortion in their home countries is legal.

    sankey visualization

    The reasons behind this phenomenon vary. Sometimes women realise they are pregnant after the legal deadline for abortion has passed in their country. In other cases, the fetus presents a malformation that local doctors do not consider serious enough to justify terminating the pregnancy.

    Exporting Abortion exposes the journeys European women take to access abortion services in other countries. The highest flow is from Germany to the Netherlands, followed by Portugal to Spain. The third most common route is from France to the Netherlands.

    Additionally, it shows how women don’t just travel abroad to access abortions. There’s also a growing trend of women ordering and taking abortion pills on their own in countries where abortion rights are highly restricted. This occurs outside the formal healthcare system, leaving women without medical supervision. This trend is particularly evident in countries like Malta and Poland.

    Explore the wider investigation here.

    Top graphic credit: NSUE Studio

    This investigation was developed with the support of Journalismfund Europe.

    Exporting Abortion is a cross-border journalistic investigation coordinated by Público (Spain) in collaboration with European media and journalists from across Europe. 

    The journalists who have participated in this investigation are, in alphabetical order: Joana Ascensão (Portugal – Expresso), Kristina Bohmer (Slovakia), Magdalena Chrzczonowicz (Poland – OKO.press), Mayya Chernobylskaya (Germany), Nacho Calle (Spain – Público), Maria Delaney (Ireland – The Journal Investigates), Joanna Demarco (Malta), Armelle Desmaison (France), Emilia G. Morales (Spain – Público), Bru Noya (Andorra), Apolena Rychlíková (Czech Republic), Órla Ryan (Ireland – The Journal Investigates), Sergio Sangiao (Spain – Público), Margot Smolenaars (Netherlands – Follow The Money).

  • Alone, Constant Fear of Being Caught: Over 2,000 Self-Managed Abortions in Malta in Last Five Years, Despite Near Blanket Ban

    Alone, Constant Fear of Being Caught: Over 2,000 Self-Managed Abortions in Malta in Last Five Years, Despite Near Blanket Ban

    by Joanna Demarco

    • Abortion Pill Shipments Double in Four Years
    • Four Police Reports, Two Arraignments Linked to Abortion Pills Since 2018
    • Traveling for Abortion Up to 25 Times More Expensive Than Pills

    “I remember sitting on the edge of the bathtub, Googling ‘abortion in Malta,’ then panicking, thinking they were going to trace my search back to my IP address… Imma paranojja ridikula. Well, it’s not ridiculous because it’s not unrealistic…”

    *Stephanie was 25 and had just begun a new scholastic year working as a secondary school teacher when she unexpectedly became pregnant, despite using contraception.

    Her abortion was one of over 2,000 cases in Malta in the past five years for which women have used pills shipped from international organisations that provide them, according to data kept by the two main abortion pill suppliers and shared with Amphora Media through local NGO Doctors for Choice. The data was shared as part of the European cross-border investigation Exporting Abortion, coordinated by Público (Spain). 

    The numbers signal that Malta’s near-total abortion ban has not stopped women from seeking abortions. Rather, access to abortion pills is increasingly leading to more self-managed terminations.

    Yet, the framework of illegality and stigma fosters a climate of fear, risk, and isolation as these procedures continue to take place outside the healthcare system.

    In an interview with Amphora Media, held in a private location, Stephanie described the experience of having an abortion within this climate as triggering “all the worst emotions” — fear, anger, shame and mistrust; including towards her siblings, her gynae and even her GP.

    “You feel angry at the state, frustrated, you are nauseous and worried about the actual abortion and worried about being caught. So there are a lot of layers to the upset, because it is distressing… And that is what made the whole thing difficult. Not the procedure,” Stephanie said.

    Dr Natalie Psaila Stabile, a specialist in family medicine and co-founder of Doctors for Choice Malta, speaks to women daily who want to have, or have had, abortions, through the NGO’s Abortion Doula Support Service that she helps run. The service offers women free, confidential abortion information and support.

    Without hearing the interviewee’s story, she echoed Stephanie’s fears as ones expressed by the women she talks to. 

    “People get very concerned about the pills being stuck at customs or being found out… Some fear being reported by family members, partners, or even their ex-partners. Some are in abusive relationships where their partner wants them to keep the pregnancy, and they don’t — as this ties them down even more”.

    The safety of pills purchased online, potential complications, and how to recognise excessive bleeding or failed procedures are other concerns the women who speak to Dr Psaila Stabile raise.

    A portrait of Professor Isabel Stabile (left) and Dr Natalie Psaila Stabile (right) – mother and daughter and the co-founders of Doctors for Choice Malta.

    Psaila Stabile’s mother, Professor Isabel Stabile, a gynaecologist and the co-founder of Doctors for Choice Malta, told Amphora Media that from a medical point of view, the pills are safe, save for a “rare” occurrence of very heavy bleeding, which would require hospital care.

    The latter is the scenario which women taking the pills fear – having to need to go to hospital and risk the chance of being found out.

    Four Police Reports Linked to Abortion Pills Since 2018 – Two Arraigned

    While the fear of being reported to the police is a main concern for women using abortion pills, since 2018, only four reports have been filed with the police in relation to the pills –two in 2023 and two in 2024.

    Through a freedom of information request, Amphora Media found that two reports led to arraignments in court, one did not lead to any charges, and one is currently being investigated.

    Additionally, a recent report by  Voice For Choice revealed that between a longer timeframe – 2012 and November 2024 – three of seven reports on abortions that were sent to the police, were made by healthcare professionals, while the remaining four reports were filed by partners, former partners or family members.

    Under Maltese law, it is legal to purchase the pills, possess them, and even consume them. It is only illegal to consume them while pregnant.

    Malta has the strictest abortion laws in the EU – allowing a legal abortion only in cases where  a woman has a medical complication which may put her life at immediate risk, or that places her health in grave jeopardy which may lead to death.

    Under the Criminal Code, a woman who causes her own miscarriage or consents to an abortion can face 18 months to three years in prison. No one has been imprisoned for having an abortion in the last 25 years.

    Abortion Pill Shipments Double in Four Years

    The data provided to Amphora Media by Doctors for Choice lists shipments from the two main organisations that provide abortion pills: Women on Web and Women Help Women. The figures specifically account for pills ordered for immediate use, excluding precautionary or “advanced provision” orders.

    Professor Stabile stated that the pills shipped “are taken”, thus making them a reliable indicator of how many abortions are occurring in Malta each year.

    The numbers have surged, more than doubling since 2020. In 2024 alone, 590 shipments were made, almost double the 289 in 2020. Analysis shows that from 2020 to the end of 2024, there were over 2,000 instances women in Malta taking abortion pills. 

    However, due to the legal risks, these abortions happened without medical supervision and often without the support of a loved one.

    “They are literally on their own, alone in the bathroom, bleeding with no one around them. That’s not the way to do it,” Stabile said.

    The increase in the use of abortion pills has also been noticed through first-hand experience by Dr Psaila Stabile through the Doula Support Service.

    The phone used for the Doula Support Service.

    A sample of logbook entries from 2024 shared with Amphora Media shows that a majority of calls are made during early pregnancy and are mostly inquiries about the abortion pill.

    Stabile also highlighted specific cases she is aware of in which travel was not possible and access to pills has been crucial. In one instance, a migrant woman living in Malta’s detention centres ordered abortion pills after allegedly being raped at a detention centre in Libya. In Malta, abortion remains illegal in cases of rape and incest.

    It is important to note that these 2000+ cases also do not include the number of pills that could have been purchased on the black market or from other providers. They also don’t include other potential instances of self-managed abortions.

    Traveling for Abortion Up to 25 Times More Expensive Than Pills

    Despite users knowing that it is illegal, women are still choosing to have abortion pills in Malta for practical and financial reasons, Professor Stabile explained.

    “Women in Malta are generally not travelling in early pregnancy. They’re not. They don’t because it’s just so much easier to get the pills here,” she said.

    Traditionally, Maltese women seeking abortions during early pregnancy would travel to countries such as the UK. However, the growing awareness of overseas medical abortion providers has offered a cheaper and more accessible alternative.

    While the numbers for travelling in early pregnancy have dwindled and changed, women still travel for procedures following the 12-week time limit catered for by the pills.

    The abortion pills – mifepristone and misoprostol – which are considered as safe options by the World Health Organisation cost 25 times less than traveling abroad for a procedure. While a medical abortion costs between €80 and €120, traveling for an abortion can cost between €2,000 and €3,000 (not including time taken off work, childcare costs, etc.)

    Echoing Professor Stabile, Stephanie told Amphora Media that she decided to choose the pills over travelling, despite the illegality, for practical and financial reasons. “It’s less hassle, as you don’t have to look into flights and accommodation and coordinate your schedule with someone else to join you for support,” she said.

    “It’s cheaper, because you don’t need flights and accommodation, and it’s less disruptive on life and responsibilities, at that time I also couldn’t afford to take a week off.”

    “It’s a struggle not being able to trust anyone when you need help… (and) although that is what you decide — no one wants to go through having an abortion.. and it was made more difficult than it had to be simply because of the laws that affect it. It didn’t have to be like that,” she said.

    Amphora Media reached out to Health Minister Jo-Etienne Abela for comment, however received no reply.

    *the interviewee’s name was changed to protect her identity.

    This investigation was developed with the support of Journalismfund Europe.

    Exporting Abortion is a cross-border journalistic investigation coordinated by Público (Spain) in collaboration with European media and journalists from across Europe. 

    The journalists who have participated in this investigation are, in alphabetical order: Joana Ascensão (Portugal – Expresso), Kristina Bohmer (Slovakia), Magdalena Chrzczonowicz (Poland – OKO.press), Mayya Chernobylskaya (Germany), Nacho Calle (Spain – Público), Maria Delaney (Ireland – The Journal Investigates), Joanna Demarco (Malta), Armelle Desmaison (France), Emilia G. Morales (Spain – Público), Bru Noya (Andorra), Apolena Rychlíková (Czech Republic), Órla Ryan (Ireland – The Journal Investigates), Sergio Sangiao (Spain – Público), Margot Smolenaars (Netherlands – Follow The Money).

  • Kappara Junction & Malta Public Transport: Investigators Trace Millions To Former Advisor Shiv Nair & Other Suspicious Payments To Then-Transport Malta CEO

    Kappara Junction & Malta Public Transport: Investigators Trace Millions To Former Advisor Shiv Nair & Other Suspicious Payments To Then-Transport Malta CEO

    By Joanna Demarco, Julian Bonnici and Daiva Repečkaitė.

    This story has been fact-checked by an independent fact-checker.

    • Investigators believe Spanish contractors involved in the Kappara Junction and Malta Public Transport channelled millions to the nephew of a former Spanish MP. The former MP is facing a corruption trial.
    • The nephew’s companies then allegedly transferred funds to blacklisted former Joseph Muscat government advisor Shiv Nair.
    • Former Transport Malta CEO James Piscopo received suspicious cheques from accountant Robert Borg the same year both contracts were awarded.
    • Transaction records seen by Amphora Media show:
      • Shiv Nair and his companies received €2.3 million net from an affiliated company allegedly part of the scheme.
      • James Piscopo received €30,000 in suspicious cheques issued by Robert Borg. He also received a net €10,000 from Borg through a separate account.
      • Spanish contractors of Kappara Junction sent €263,000 to a company owned by the nephew of the former Spanish MP.
    • Keith Schembri once used Yorgen Fenech to try to leak documents linking Piscopo to alleged payments.

    Multi-million payments issued to Shiv Nair, the blacklisted former advisor of Joseph Muscat’s government, are suspected of forming part of a kickback scheme on the Kappara Junction and Malta Public Transport contracts.

    Transaction records uncovered in an investigation by Amphora Media, MaltaToday, and Times of Malta reveal that Nair and his affiliated companies received a net amount of €2.3 million from Aitken Spencer Ltd – a company owned by his director’s brother that investigators believe is tied to the scheme.

    Meanwhile, investigators have also flagged a series of suspicious cheques issued to former Transport Malta CEO James Piscopo.

    Piscopo received €30,000 across nine cheques in 2015, the year the contracts for the Kappara Junction Project and the management of Malta Public Transport were awarded.

    The signing of the Kappara Junction Project with James Piscopo, Ministers Joe Mizzi & Edward Scicluna — Source: DOI

    Piscopo received the cheques from Robert Borg, an accountant and former secretary of Transport Malta who has served on numerous entities’ boards and councils.

    Borg has been charged in connection to the Vitals Global Healthcare case and has previously faced controversy for his lucrative earnings from the General Workers Union’s publicly-funded community work scheme.

    In seven of the nine cheques cashed by Piscopo, Borg was both the payer and payee – effectively writing them out to himself. They were then endorsed to Piscopo, who deposited them into his account. Investigators suspect this method was intended to obscure the transactions.

    Amphora Media has been informed of further payments between Borg and Piscopo’s Undecim Five Investments, a company he later renamed and which was eventually dissolved. Borg transferred €20,000 to Piscopo’s Undecim Five – while Undecim Five transferred €10,000 to Borg. 

    Piscopo confirmed that he received the payments from Borg, with whom he said he has a longstanding friendship. However, he insisted that the payments were linked to a consultancy firm he operated with Borg while serving as Transport Malta & Lands Authority CEO. He said taking those payments was “stupid” but not illegal and ultimately rejected any links to the alleged kickback scheme.

    He could not explain why the cheques were issued before the company’s creation – nor why Borg initially wrote the cheques out to himself. Borg refused to answer questions sent surrounding his transactions with Piscopo.

    Piscopo said that the Kappara Junction Project was fully audited and stressed he had little to no knowledge of who Shiv Nair is.

    Amphora Media found no financial records linking Nair and Piscopo. Borg disputed transaction records between himself and a Maltese company owned by Nair. He insisted that he had never met or had dealings with Nair.

    Nair refused to answer any questions about the claims.

    “I am a private businessman and not a public servant. Moreover, and perhaps more to the point, my companies have always conducted their activities in Malta and elsewhere in a regular and lawful manner and do not need to provide explanations with respect to their legitimate dealings,” he said. 

    James Piscopo and Robert Borg

    The Spanish Connection

    In 2015, Spanish-led contractors won two large infrastructure tenders. A consortium led by Constructora San Jose SA won a tender to build the Kappara junction, while Autobuses de Leon was chosen as the new private operator for the public transport system. On the surface, the tenders appear unrelated.

    Sources have revealed that Spanish authorities have reportedly identified a total of €5.14 million in transfers from the accounts of Constructora San Jose SA (the Spanish partner in the Kappara Junction joint venture) and a company called Malta Public Transport (the brand name of operator Autobuses de Leon, a sister company of  ALSA) to two companies in Spain: Hasaura Real Estate SL and Translock IT SL.

    The director of these two companies is Luis Carlos Yanguas Gómez de la Serna, the nephew of Spanish former MP Pedro Ramon Gomez de la Serna.

    Pedro Ramón Gómez de la Serna and another former MP, Gustavo de Arístegui, have been charged in Spain with heading a criminal organisation to obtain foreign contracts in a case that lists Constructora San Jose as a client company. 

    Malta Public Transport Buses

    ALSA is listed as a client of Voltar Lassen, a firm owned by Pedro de la Serna and Gustavo de Arístegui.  Malta Public Transport’s owner, Autobuses de Leon, is a sister company of ALSA group. ALSA emphasised that it was separate from Autobuses de Leon when responding to questions.

    In the Spanish police probe, Luis Carlos Yanguas Gómez de la Serna was found to appear to have acted as a “commission agent” for the company at the centre of the investigation.  Luis Carlos Yanguas Gómez de la Serna stopped working with Voltar Lassen in January 2014. He was not charged in connection to the case.

    Amphora Media has seen records of six transactions worth approx. €263,000 between Constructora San Jose and Hasaura Real Estate.

    Pedro Ramon Gomez de la Serna and his lawyer rejected any suggestions that he had any knowledge or connection with the alleged scheme – and stressed that Luis Carlos Yanguas Gómez de la Serna stopped working with Voltar Lassen before the transactions linked to Kappara Junction and Malta Public Transport – and had since set up an independent consultancy firm.

    Kappara Junction Source: DOI

    Transport Malta said that both the Kappara project and Malta Public Transport contract were audited by the European Commission and National Audit Office, respectively – it said none of the payments were mentioned and that it would not be privy to any of the payments mentioned in our questions. 

    Malta Public Transport categorically denied the claims. It said that Hasaura Real Estate SL & Translock IT SL provided “specific services required by MPT and provided to MPT by its suppliers” – and said these were in no way related to the awarding of the public transport concession. However, it did not respond to questions to clarify the services provided.

    Autobuses de Leon said that MPT signed an agreement with Hasaura Real Estate in 2015 to optimise the management of its fleet and later transferred it to Translock IT. It said it used this management software from March 2015 to June 2020.

    It rejected all wrongdoing and denied any knowledge of Nair.

    The ex-MP’s nephew Luis Carlos Yanguas said the payments involving his companies Hasaura Real Estate SL and Translock IT had nothing to do with his uncle. 

    Yanguas said the payments were part of a “client-supplier relationship”, and were backed up by all the necessary documentation and agreements. 

    Constructora San Jose’ insisted that it acts under the strictest legality. Constructora San Jose’ did not respond to questions as to why it was also issuing payments to Hasaura Real Estate.

    Shiv Nair – Source: Suez Holdings

    Payments allegedly flow from Spanish companies to Shiv Nair

    After arriving in the accounts of Yanguas de la Serna’s companies, a portion of the funds originating from Malta Public Transport was allegedly transferred to Shiv Nair through a Hong Kong-based company, Aitken Spencer Ltd.  

    Transaction records seen by Amphora Media show that between 2014 and 2020, Nair and his affiliated companies, Suez Group Finance and Suez Group Capital, received a net amount of €2.3 million from Aitken Spencer Limited.

    Aitken Spencer Ltd’s director and shareholder is Subodha Manahara Withanage. It was incorporated in Hong Kong on 27th January 2015, the same year the contracts were awarded.

    Withanage’s brother appears to be Rasika Withanage, a director at Nair’s Suez Capital, who has also held significant roles and worked in other companies linked to Nair. Amphora Media has seen transactions to Rasika Withanage, which are believed to be his salary.

    The Withanage mother’s residence is listed as the headquarters of Suez Holdings in Sri Lanka.

    Nair has been permanently blacklisted by the World Bank for fraud and corruption since 1999 – as exposed by Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2013. Still, he served as an advisor on energy and foreign direct investment within the government of Joseph Muscat. 

    At the time Nair denied the accusations, but the World Bank has confirmed to Amphora Media that the blacklisting still applies.

    Caruana Galizia had also reported on Nair’s connections to former MP Pedro Ramón Gómez de la Serna. Gomez de la Serna confirmed that he met Shiv Nair, but he described it as a coincidence.

    Source: DOI

    Kappara Junction and Malta Public Transport Contract Raised Red Flags

    Autobuses de Leon won a tender to take over the ownership and management of Malta Public Transport on 8th January 2015. Piscopo, who was Transport Malta’s CEO at the time, chaired the tender evaluation committee and oversaw the selection. 

    Eyebrows were first raised in 2014 when a visit by then-Transport Minister Joe Mizzi and Piscopo to Spain as part of the selection process for the new public transport operator was shrouded in secrecy.

    The National Audit Office later flagged the lack of documentation on negotiations between Transport Malta and the winning bidder as a concern. 

    The contract is valid until 2030.

    A week after the Autobuses de Leon takeover, the five potential bidders for the Kappara Junction were announced, with SJ Kappara JV, which involved Maltese partners, winning the bid in December of that year. The project cost was budgeted to cost €22.5 million and was inaugurated in January 2018. The final cost was estimated at around €35 million. 

    The project benefited from EU funding intended for less developed regions. Transport Malta even involved European Investment Bank experts to provide an “independent positive recommendation of the [Kappara Junction] project’s feasibility”.

    Malta Public Transport Buses

    Keith Schembri claimed James Piscopo received kickbacks from major projects 

    Allegations of Piscopo receiving kickbacks on infrastructural projects are not new. In December 2020, the Times of Malta revealed that the Malta police had launched an investigation into Piscopo.

    Read the story by the Times of Malta here

    According to reports in the Times of Malta, in 2019, former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri attempted to use Yorgen Fenech to leak a story to the media, alleging that Piscopo had received a considerable amount of money.

    Schembri is believed to have provided Fenech with documentation showing Piscopo’s dealings, including his offshore account at Nedbank Private Wealth (formerly Fairbairn Private Bank) in Jersey. Schembri alleged that the funds held at the bank could be upwards of €600,000.

    Intelligence obtained by investigators suggests that Piscopo does hold a bank account at Nedbank Private Wealth (formerly Fairbairn Private Bank) in Jersey. 

    Piscopo served as the Labour Party’s CEO in the run-up to its 2013 electoral victory and was a key member of Joseph Muscat’s inner circle. He was appointed executive chairman of Transport Malta and then later the Lands Authority CEO following Labour’s rise to power but no longer holds that role.

    Apart from his job there as CEO, Piscopo also chaired the state’s utility billing company, ARMS Ltd, and sat on the boards of Enemalta and Projects Malta.

    Piscopo resigned soon after the claims were made public.

    Malta’s police declined to comment on the status of the investigation or whether an investigation was ever opened into the alleged kickback scheme involving the Kappara Junction and Malta Public Transport contracts. 

  • How betting embedded itself into European football – including Malta

    How betting embedded itself into European football – including Malta

    There are few certainties in a football game: a ball, twenty-two players, a referee, and an endless supply of betting and gambling sponsors. An investigation by Investigate Europe and other partners reveals the significant influence of the betting industry over the “beautiful game”.

    An analysis in a cross-border collaboration, including Amphora Media, has uncovered how the majority of Europe’s leading football teams & leagues, including Malta’s, now partner with betting & gambling companies.

    Reporters’ data analysis revealed that two-thirds of teams (296 of 442) in the 31 premier competitions across the EU and the UK signed at least one betting partner for the 2024/25 season. One in three has a front-of-shirt sponsor. In addition, almost half of all leagues rely on a gambling or lottery title sponsor.

    This includes Malta, with reporters uncovering how close to a tenth of Malta’s top-flight teams have a gambling sponsor. Amphora Media has also previously reported how Vbet, the partner of the Malta Premier League and Malta National Team, has been implicated in an alleged illegal betting network.

    Read more on Vbet and its sponsorships

    The investigation also found that 105 companies – operating 140 brands – have deals with football clubs, and many are based in Malta. Football sponsors include industry heavyweights Kindred, Kaizen and Entain, and well-known brands such as Unibet, Betano, Betway and Bwin. Others are offshore operators in Curaçao and Isle of Man, or across Asia.

    However, the investigation reveals that a number of teams are able to circumvent betting advertising restrictions with ‘gateway’ sponsors – and campaigners say agreements risk pushing more vulnerable individuals into addiction. Clubs have found ways to skirt restrictions by using brands’ entertainment of charitable logos on their kits.

    From the Premier League to Serie A and La Liga: Betting sponsors are impossible to miss

    In Italy, the 2018  “Dignity Decree” prohibited any form of direct or indirect advertising related to gambling. Still, advertising on shirts continued this season, driven by Inter (Betsson.sport), Parma (AdmiralBet.news) and Lecce (BetItalyPay).

    At least two clubs, including AC Milan, have struck deals with companies which lack domestic licences but still target local audiences. In July 2024, the club struck a deal with Boomerang Bet despite the brand operating without a license, a legal requirement for the Italian betting market, reporters found. Neither responded to requests for comment.

    Italy’s sports minister acknowledged in March 2023 that the ban was being bypassed. In response to a parliamentary inquiry, Andrea Abodi said it was “hypocritical to ban the right to bet” while still allowing “parallel communication by the same sites, which simply promote a web address that inevitably leads to gambling.”

    Read more about Boomerang in the Shady Bets investigation

    The global appeal of the British Premier League has made its clubs prime targets. Eleven teams have a gambling logo on their 2024/25 shirts, the highest proportion among Europe’s top five leagues, including the Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1 and Serie A. With a voluntary ban on front-of-shirt sponsors coming from the 2026/27 season, clubs must diversify. Some logos are moving to shorts, sleeves, and training kits.

    Betting brands spent around $135 million on shirt deals in the English top flight this season, according to Global Data. Among them are several opaque Asia-facing operators, the latest in a string of little-known betting sponsors. They are attractive options for smaller teams, offering up to £10 million a year, and clubs are desperate to maximise revenues, says Kieran Maguire, football finance expert and lecturer at the University of Liverpool. 

    “I don’t think there’s any desire by clubs to do due diligence, provided they get paid. And they’re prepared to not look too closely because they’re under pressure,” Maguire said. “You’ve got the owner screaming at the chief executive who’s screaming at the commercial director: ‘Get the best deal that you can. We’re losing money’. And all the clubs are losing money.”

    ‘Betting companies exploited my passion for football’: The real impact betting sponsors can have on addiction

    “Betting companies exploited my passion for football to hook me in and completely change my life,” Thomas Melchior, a former German bank employee who started gambling after watching a betting advertisement during a Champions League match, told our partners, Investigate Europe.

    After 13 years of betting, Melchior had accumulated €800,000 of debt and in 2019 was sentenced to prison after being found guilty of various fraud and other offences, which he said were a means to sustain his gambling addiction.

    At first, when he was winning, his account was flagged for potential gambling addiction, and his betting limits were restricted. But when he started losing five-figure sums every month, no one banned him. Instead, he was assigned a personal VIP consultant and received monthly rewards.

    “I ‘won’ a trip to London for the Premier League match between Chelsea and Liverpool, complete with flights and VIP tickets. It was a ‘prize’ for my customer loyalty. Or rather, for my gambling addiction, for which I was regularly rewarded,” said Melchior, who was released from prison in 2022 and has since supported Unsere Kurve, a German fan group working to end gambling advertising in football.

    According to The Big Step campaign, which also aims to end gambling advertising and sponsorships in football, marketing through football works to normalise betting and “keep the conveyor belt of customers going”.

    It is estimated that around a fifth of the UK population is directly or indirectly harmed by gambling, but the main lobby group for the UK betting industry claims that there is no evidence supporting a link between sports advertising and problem gambling.

    Charles Livingstone, a member of the World Health Organisation’s Expert Group on Gambling and Gambling Disorder, says research clearly shows that the more exposure you have to gambling ads, the more likely you are to gamble.

  • 0.3% Of Malta’s Magisterial Inquiries Come From Private Citizens — Bill 125 Will Shrink That Number

    0.3% Of Malta’s Magisterial Inquiries Come From Private Citizens — Bill 125 Will Shrink That Number

    By Sabrina Zammit

    Magisterial inquiries have been one of Malta’s few avenues for citizens to seek justice and hold those in power accountable. A new bill threatens to close that door – and recent data shows private citizen-filed inquiries account for just 0.3% of all magisterial inquiries.

    In response to a series of parliamentary questions by MP Amanda Spiteri Grech, Justice Minister Jonathan Attard revealed that only 25 magisterial inquiries were initiated by private citizens between 2017 and 2024, a fraction of the 7,650 carried out by magistrates & initiated by authorities. 

    Private citizen-filed inquiries have led to major investigations and, in some instances, criminal charges into significant scandals, including the VGH/Steward case, 17 Black, the Panama Papers, Electrogas, and the Mozura wind farm deal in Montenegro.

    Bill 125 would drastically limit that ability. It has courted significant controversy and was introduced amid fresh requests for inquiries into Prime Minister Robert Abela’s cabinet members. Critics say that the bill has been rushed through parliament and that the government has been unwilling to engage in public dialogue.

    A vote on the second reading of the Bill will be taken later today. The committee stage will follow, and a final vote will be taken after its third and final reading.

    Data from 2017-2024

    Under the proposed law, citizens must present evidence to the police, not the magistrate, and follow stricter guidelines. This would undermine accountability, especially if authorities fail to act.

    The Bill removes the ‘reasonable suspicion’ standard, introduces a stricter evidentiary requirement, and places magisterial inquiries under the supervision of the Attorney General, which could compromise judicial independence. 

    The government argues that the Bill aligns with recommendations made by the Venice Commission, which stressed it should “not abandon Malta’s legal traditions but evolve to provide more effective checks and balances than those currently in place.” 

    PL MEP Alex Agius Saliba and Minister Attard travelled to Brussels for a series of meetings, including former LIBE Committee Chair Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar. Agius Saliba has reportedly begun circulating a government-produced ‘fact sheet’ about Bill 125. 

    The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation has urged the European Parliament’s Socialist and Democrats (S&D) group to retract their support for the proposed reform.

    Justice Minister Jonathan Attard
    Source: DOI

    Bill 125 Slashes Citizens’ Right to Seek Justice

    Besides eliminating direct citizen petitions and imposing stricter evidentiary requirements, Bill 125 mandates individuals to wait 6 months for police inaction for an initial request for a magisterial inquiry. 

    A two-year deadline is being introduced, after which all collected evidence would be passed onto the Attorney General, regardless of the inquiry’s status. Given the court’s long-standing issue with delays, this could result in a premature conclusive status for incomplete investigations. 

    Another major reform is the introduction of penalties for abuse. If a magistrate determines that the inquiry initiated by a citizen against the accused was “unfounded, frivolous, vexatious or abusive of the judicial process”, the same citizen would be held responsible for covering costs. 

    These expenses could run into the millions—for context, the inquiry into Egrant cost over €1.2 million, while the Vitals exceeded €10 million. 

  • Shady Bets: Soft2bet Founder Connected To Blacklisted Gambling Sites In Secret Network

    Shady Bets: Soft2bet Founder Connected To Blacklisted Gambling Sites In Secret Network

    By Daiva Repečkaitė and Julian Bonnici

    • Uri Poliavich – Soft2bet’s founder – has partly relied on myriad blacklisted casinos and sports betting sites to help build up his empire. 
    • Boomerang, AC Milan’s Betting Partner, operates blacklisted sites & uses Soft2bet’s services. 
    • A German man who lost €245,000 won a legal challenge against a blacklisted casino site.
    • Malta’s Bill 55 under the microscope for shielding gambling industry from law enforcement.

    Soft2bet, a gambling software provider, has connections in Malta – from Economy Minister Silvio Schembri inaugurating its offices to its global brand founder serving as one of the key speakers at the SiGMA conference in Malta. However, a cross-border investigation by Investigate Europe and its partners, including Amphora Media, has revealed that entities within Soft2bet founders’ corporate network have registered numerous blacklisted casinos and betting sites – while gambling addicts struggle to find justice.

    See the project page

    Soft2bet’s founder, Uri Poliavich, is overseeing an empire that turned a €66.8 million profit in 2023 from Soft2bet alone and has handed him a €57.8 million dividend. Corporate documents reveal that he spent some of his wealth on real estate in Cyprus, Prague and Sofia, as well as over €1.3 million worth of cars. In Malta, Poliavich’s network has a licence to target players via Maltix Limited, owned via entities in Cyprus.

    Investigate Europe and partners have revealed that company filings, website domain and trademark data show that Poliavich – named “leader of the year” at an industry summit in 2024 – has partly relied on myriad blacklisted casinos and sports betting sites to help build up his empire. 

    Poliavich did not personally respond to reporters’ questions, but Soft2bet denied wrongdoing. “Our operations are conducted in full adherence to all applicable laws, regulations, and licensing conditions in every jurisdiction where we are authorised to operate,” the company’s statement read. 

    Quad Towers
    Quad Towers, where Soft2bet is located.

    ‘Casinos stole my life’: German’s legal challenge against Soft2bet-linked sites

    Felix (not his real name), a middle-aged German man struggling after a difficult divorce, found himself drawn to gambling. He took out nine loans and cancelled his pension plans to fuel his gambling addiction, and remembers losing €245,000 on a website called Wazamba. But instead of flagging potential addiction, the website granted him “VIP status”, a loyalty programme where high spenders get a personal manager.

    “I spent every free minute on my mobile phone,” Felix told Investigate Europe. 

    “I could play and then call them to get some money back to continue playing, they always give you credit straight away,”Those who run these casinos have stolen my life.” 

    Investigate Europe can reveal that Wazamba is part of a vast network of blacklisted gambling sites connected to Soft2bet by corporate ownership and the UBO. In a statement sent to Investigate Europe, Soft2bet denied any wrongdoing.

    Fortunately for Felix, he pursued Wazamba in the German courts. At the time, Soft2bet appears to have discreetly managed the casino via two shell corporations, Rabidi and Araxio Development. In 2022, Rabidi turned over €343 million. The registrant’s phone number for one Rabidi-created URL currently shows as Poliavich’s WhatsApp number. Both companies were based in Curaçao, the Caribbean tax haven notorious for its lax gambling regulations.

    See Follow the Money investigation on Curaçao here

    German judges ruled in 2023 that Rabidi, unlicensed in Germany, owed Felix all his losses back. Two years later, he is still waiting for the money, as are several other creditors. 

    Both Rabidi and Araxio were declared bankrupt in Curaçao following a number

    of similar lawsuits. Their assets, however, were safely relocated before the judgements. What was not known at the time was their relation to Soft2bet.

    Investigate Europe and its partners addressed 25 questions to Soft2bet and Poliavich. In a statement, the company said: “Soft2bet is a leading online casino and sportsbook software provider, holding various licenses worldwide. As a fully licensed and strictly regulated company, we take our compliance obligations and regulatory responsibilities with the utmost seriousness.

    “We categorically deny the baseless allegations and misleading insinuations presented in your email. Any suggestion that Soft2bet engages in improper activities is entirely false, defamatory, and without merit. We reject the attempt to damage our reputation through unfounded accusations or irresponsible reporting.”

    But data from Similarweb, a web traffic aggregator, show that the unauthorised websites attract millions of visits each month in Europe, with Germany providing the majority of players. And some of the blacklisted brands traced back to Soft2bet, like Wazamba, have been owned and operated by the company directly. Others were created by the group on behalf of customers as “turnkey casinos”.

    Boomerang: AC Milan’s Betting Partner Operates Blacklisted Sites

    Boomerang is one of the latter. It received an award at the latest SiGMA World conference.

    Boomerang has been classified as unauthorised in at least six countries – including Italy, Spain and Greece. Regardless, Boomerang managed to strike a deal with AC Milan in July 2024 as its official regional betting partner in Europe. Boomerang has been blacklisted by Italian authorities since at least March 2025.

    In spite of being blacklisted, Its URLs recorded 17 million visits in the last three months of 2024: 3 million came from Spain, 1 million from Greece and nearly 500,000 from Italy. Over 7 million visits were from Germany, where Boomerang doesn’t have the necessary licences.

    The trademark’s owners are four Russian nationals who publicly acknowledge their connections to Boomerang and other betting sites. Corporate filings show they live in Cyprus and Berlin, where the two also set up a real estate company. 

    Investigate Europe tried to contact them via Boomerang, but they did not reply to requests for comments. AC Milan, who is in a partnership with Boomerang, did not answer questions either.

    As well as web traffic data, proof that blacklisted websites tied to Soft2bet are vying for European gamblers can be found in the group’s marketing materials. 

    The Curaçao licence which Soft2bet casinos held did not allow them to target a European audience. But it did afford them much-needed secrecy. 

    Authorities have blamed the two Curaçao shell companies without linking them to Soft2bet. Both Rabidi and Araxio received court judgments in Austria and Germany ordering them to reimburse players. In Spain, Rabidi received a €5 million fine in connection to 25 “allegedly illegal” casinos. The Spanish regulator said the penalty remains to be paid.

    Evidence that Soft2bet’s UBO’s hand is behind them lies in Cyprus, where the company keeps its top holdings. Soft2bet founder and CEO Poliavich controlled Araxio directly via Outono Ltd, a Cypriot entity which served as Soft2bet’s top holding until recently. Rabidi belonged to a close partner, Denys Butko, a Ukrainian national living on the Mediterranean island. 

    The two men rarely appear together in official paperwork, but their friendship is obvious. Social media pictures show them spending time together with family in Ukraine. Poliavich even picked Butko as the director of one entity he used to buy a $475,000 flat in Panama City.

    Butko did not reply to requests for comments.

    Between 2017 and 2024, Soft2bet’s founder and Butko used Araxio and Rabidi to establish nearly 550 casino URLs. Company accounts suggest Araxio owned software rights, and Rabidi was a gambling operator. 

    From 2021, as Rabidi and Araxio kept popping up on European blacklists, Poliavich called in Butko to reorganise his affairs. Butko’s Cypriot outfit, Interpava, played a key role in the reshuffle.

    First, Interpava, which already owned Rabidi, took over Araxio while its software rights were moved to another Poliavich undertaking. Then, Interpava incorporated a third Curacao vehicle, which assumed Rabidi’s casino operations and local gambling authorities granted it a licence.

    Interpava’s shares were finally transferred to another collaborator working with Butko. By the time Araxio and Rabidi were declared bankrupt in 2023 and 2024, respectively, the two entities were worthless. Direct ties to Poliavich and Butko were severed.

    RightNow, a German legal firm helping players recover money, looked into various claims against Araxio and Rabidi, but could not find out who was behind them. “Basically there’s no good way to track them and get the money which is owed to customers based in Europe,” says Benedikt Quarch, co-founder of RightNow. “It is crazy that those big companies can just close and reopen legal entities and move funds around.”

    In 2024, the network’s structures were further opacified. More shell corporations were formed in the Marshall Islands. Casino trademarks like Wazamba or House of Spades, initially held by Cypriot entities, were shifted to a Dubai post box company.

    A majority of the blacklisted websites that Investigate Europe linked to Soft2bet also seemingly left Curaçao. They now use a gambling licence from Anjouan, an island in the Indian Ocean which has grown as another tax haven for virtual casinos. Just like Curaçao before, a permit from Anjouan doesn’t allow casinos to access most European markets legally.

    Due to the separation of corporate entities and their owners’ assets, the previously fined or convicted companies do not appear to affect the workings of the other nodes in Poliavich’s network. The Soft2bet group is gearing up to launch its Elabet brand in Greece, having gained the necessary licence there, even though 54 of its other websites feature on the country’s blacklist. The company also recently secured regulatory approval in Spain, despite Rabidi’s unpaid fine there.

    Malta’s Bill 55 under the microscope for shielding gambling industry’s illegalities 

    The issue surrounding Maltese-licensed operators and their unauthorised operations has brought renewed focus on the controversial Bill 55, which critics argue effectively nullifies court verdicts elsewhere in the European Union to protect themselves from potentially having to pay out millions in legal claims.

    Under a law known as Bill 55, Maltese courts can “refuse recognition and, or enforcement” of any foreign judgment involving companies registered on the island, namely the gambling industry.

    The law effectively shields owners of brands from judgements handed down abroad, of which there are an increasing number. 

    Lawyers told Investigate Europe that Bill 55, described by one as a “sledgehammer”, violates EU law and is preventing thousands of successful claims issued in European courts from being paid out. 

    Read Investigate Europe’s article on Bill 55

    Given the stakes, pressure is now mounting on the European Commission to challenge the Maltese regulation, in place since 2023, that is thwarting claimants from recouping their losses. Austria’s highest court, meanwhile, has urged the European Court of Justice to intervene and rule whether the Maltese regulation breaches EU law.

    There are around 50,000 ongoing claims in Germany and Austria alone, lawyers told Investigate Europe. The law firm G&L Legal in Vienna is itself dealing with over 15,000 cases, many concerning industry heavyweights in Malta.

    The Maltese government and gambling regulator refused to be interviewed for this story.

    Operators argue that as they are already registered in one member state – Malta – they have the right to operate in all EU states. In its annual report, Flutter, one of the internationally fined gambling operators, said it “strongly disputes” the claims made in Austria and Germany. It said its Maltese entities are “compliant in accordance with EU law” and can offer services across jurisdictions. National laws say the opposite: a company must be licensed domestically and pay taxes to be able to operate. 

    Legislation in Malta, like in other countries, also offers the so-called corporate veil between the shareholders of a company and the company. By law, shareholders are generally not personally responsible for the company’s debts beyond their investment in the company, except when there is evidence of fraud, improper conduct or defrauding of creditors, but that is to be determined by courts, and courts tend to be cautious with lifting the corporate veil.

  • Scam Empire: Multi-million Investment Scam Used Maltese Companies To Cash In

    Scam Empire: Multi-million Investment Scam Used Maltese Companies To Cash In

    By Daiva Repečkaitė and Julian Bonnici

    • Reporters spoke to 182 victims of multi-million euro investment scams that earned over €230 million in four years.
    • Two networks: One Israeli-European, the other Georgian targeted victims across the globe, including Malta.
    • Malta-registered companies among payment service providers and banks that enabled operations. One recently terminated relationships with alleged scam operators.
    • Three victims of various scams launched cases with Malta’s financial arbiter.

    Updated with a statement from Payhound Limited

    A Maltese-registered company was key in transferring funds extracted from victims of a massive investment scam targeting victims across dozens of countries, including Malta.

    A collaborative investigation by Swedish Television (SVT), OCCRP and its media partners, including Amphora Media and the Times of Malta, has revealed unprecedented insight into how these extensive investment scam networks operate – and how chilling, professionalised, and far-reaching the industry has become.

    Visit the project’s website

    Reporters have contacted 166 victims of the two networks who say they’ve been scammed approx. €18 million by an Israeli-European network and a network in Georgia.

    Financial records in the leak show that in four years, the two scam networks raked in a total of about €230 million from would-be investors.

    Illustration of a call centre, including headphones, a person smiling with a headset, and hands holding a phone with a message that reads "Payment successful"
    Credit: James O’Brien / OCCRP

    People from every walk of life have fallen victim to these scams, which leads them to lose their savings and, in many cases, their mental health.

    Victims include a Canadian crane operator living with a disability, a retired finance professor, a Swedish pensioner who needed money for dental procedures, and an Estonian lawyer who was targeted while in the hospital. 

    Far from dingy ‘boiler rooms’, leaked data and communication obtained by OCCRP’s partner Swedish Television (SVT) shows that investment scam call centres are based in slick office buildings, including in countries in the European Union, with marketing firms, payment service providers and high street banks enabling their operations.

    One of these providers was the Malta-registered OpenPayd – another is Payhound.

    OpenPayd acknowledged its relationship with entities linked to the scheme. However, it said it terminated its relationship with them, “all for reasons related to their failures to maintain adequate controls”- and stressed that it did not deal with individuals and only serviced corporate clients. 

    Update: After the publication of the articles, a representative of Payhound Limited contacted our partner, the Times of Malta, explaining that reporters’ questions were filtered into the recipient’s spam folder. The company added the following statement: “Payhound maintains the highest standards of compliance, adheres to industry best practice and has consistently met all applicable legal and regulatory requirements.”

    A headset with the word 'scam' written with its cable
    Credit: James O’Brien / OCCRP

    How the scheme works

    The scam centres see perpetrators pose as legitimate brokers and contact potential investors to encourage them to deposit funds on trading platforms such as Rivobanc and Stoxinvest. Most exist only as websites not linked to any corporate entity and are falsely located in financial centres like London and Zurich. 

    Scammers gain access to vast amounts of personal information from their victims’ computers via remote access software called Anydesk, which they ask them to install, supposedly to help them with transactions. 

    The software system they use can be manipulated to create illusory profits on traders’ initial investments, offering false claims about higher returns or blocked withdrawals — a technique to encourage them to send more.

    The leaked records detail how “recovery agents” even contact existing victims, pretending to be from financial authorities. They promise to help recoup the money — for an upfront fee — only to scam them again.

    In some cases, unsuspecting victims are convinced to transfer money to other victims, unwittingly aiding the scammers in layering and moving funds.

    Leaked financial documents reveal Maltese-registered companies acting as crucial links in funnelling funds stolen from victims of the scams, with entities like OpenPayd acting as payment providers.

    Victims were often led to believe that they were making payments to accounts they held at certain financial institutions that belonged to them when, in reality, they belonged to the scammers in question.

    They argued that the financial institutions in question, like OpenPayd, failed to stop the payments while continuing to offer accounting facilities to the scheme’s beneficiaries.

    Leaked spreadsheets, payroll data, and deposit databases show:

    • Over 26,000 would-be investors from 34 countries were targeted, with the largest sums taken from Canada, Spain, Australia, the U.K., and South Africa.
    • Between January 2021 and December 2024, this network received €230 million in payments.
    • Only about 2% of deposits are ever returned, sometimes labelled as “loans” or “upselling”, to lure victims into investing more.

    The impact is huge.

    The OCCRP investigation revealed a disturbing snapshot of the emotional and financial harm inflicted by these networks.

    Victims frequently express suicidal thoughts and describe being left penniless while scammers taunt them or subject them to verbal abuse, mocking them for “falling for” what is ultimately a well-coordinated fraud.

    An illustration of four individuals at computers
    Credit: James O’Brien / OCCRP

    Malta’s fintech companies and neobanks play a role in transferring stolen funds.

    Reporters found that scammers directed victims to open accounts with so-called neobanks – technology-driven banking companies that aim to disrupt the traditional banking sector.

    The Malta-based OpenPayd Financial Services Malta Limited is not a traditional neobank – it does not target individuals. Its U.K. licence to provide e-money services was cancelled, but in Malta, it works as a financial institution licensed to offer e-money and payment services. 

    Reporters found that numerous scam victims, many in Spain and the U.K., transferred large amounts to the account of CurrencyRock UAB, a Lithuania-based company trading as Insirex. 

    Financial reports leaked from one of the scam centres show that payment service providers had separate tabs – CurrencyRock’s Insirex was one.

    In some cases, OpenPayd did not execute transfers as intended but was indicated as the provider of choice for Insirex transfers. Leaked internal chats show the scam team exchanging instructions relating to Insirex transfers.

    In filings to the Lithuanian registry, CurrencyRock claims to have only one employee, and its volume of paid taxes is low. However, the leak shows victims transferred thousands of euros at a time to the company, and in only three months, the company sent and received €2.5 million. Attempts to reach the declared owner by our Lithuanian partner, Siena, were unsuccessful.

    From this account, held in OpenPayd, funds were transferred to a Malta-based Payhound Limited, which is licensed to provide nominee services and execute orders on behalf of clients. 

    The term ‘nominee services’ means that the company is holding money or investment in someone else’s name, separating the nominee’s and client’s money – effectively obscuring ownership.

    Payhound Limited did not reply to reporters’ questions about whether CurrencyRock held an account with them and what actions are taken when a client company is suspected of scamming victims.

    Blue Whale Tech Inc., a Canadian company running the Cratos cryptocurrency exchange, was another company used in the scheme with an OpenPayd account. Responding to reporters’ questions, a representative of Cratos said, “our clients are 100% individual clients who wish to purchase and/or sell digital currencies” and denied working with scamming enterprises. OpenPayd’s representative said that Blue Whale Tech’s account was terminated in 2023, also for the failures to maintain adequate controls.

    In its reply, OpenPayd stressed that it did not deal with individuals and only serviced corporate clients. 

    “We have our own regulatory responsibilities to manage financial crime risks posed by Clients,” the company’s representative wrote. “We monitor all transactions to/from our Clients for fraud or other financial crime flags (e.g. sanction screening), including through a comprehensive Fraud Monitoring Programme designed to combat fraud from End Customers.”

    Asked about the specific companies mentioned in the leak, OpenPayd representative wrote that Currency Rock and Blue Whale Tech Inc. “are no longer customers of OpenPayd. We terminated Blue Whale Tech Inc. […] in 2023 and CurrencyRock in 2024, all for reasons related to their failures to maintain adequate controls.”

    Euros

    Victims filed complaints against OpenPayd with Malta’s Financial Arbiter

    In 2024 alone, three victims of various scams filed complaints before the Financial Arbiter in Malta after having studied the account numbers of their scammers and identifying OpenPayd as the service provider that opened these accounts. 

    In all cases, OpenPayd argued against any obligations to the victims because they did not have a business relationship with them. Instead, OpenPayd only had a business relationship with the alleged scammers. 

    In one case, which concerned Hasbix Analytics sro, OpenPayd declared to the Arbiter that the accused company had been added to OpenPayd’s Fraud Monitoring Programme. 

    “Hasbix was seemingly left operating without suspension under a ‘60-day grace period’ permitted by OpenPayd before the relationship and account of Hasbix with OpenPayd was eventually ‘fully terminated on 29 May 2024’ after ‘a 60-day notice for Hasbix to cease operations and stop any transactions on the account, in line with OpenPayd’s terms and conditions’,” according to the case documents.

    “If the Client fails to improve their management of fraud and/or reduce its fraud rates within a reasonable period of time, we terminate the relationship,” the representative added before specifying that relationships with 21 clients were terminated due to fraud-related reasons over the past three years and that its monitoring system identified 0.07% of transactions on their platform as fraudulent.

    In all three cases, the Financial Arbiter concluded that the victims were ineligible to seek justice in Malta by not individually being the financial service provider’s customers. 

    “I am concerned not only with the quantity but also with the quality of these fraud schemes,” Financial Arbiter Alfred Mifsud wrote in the institution’s newsletter. 

    “Get-rich-quick schemes are invariably too good to be true. They are carefully laid out to tempt vulnerable consumers to try their luck with a small sum. Once inside the scheme, it gets progressively more difficult to extricate themselves out, and they are quite often convinced to continue paying into the false scheme until, finally, the truth is exposed, with hurtful results – both financial and psycho-social.”

    However, the legal loophole that left OpenPayd without responsibility for facilitating payments demanded from victims by alleged scammers may eventually be closed. 

    “The necessary changes to CAP 555 (Arbiter for Financial Services Act) will form part of Budget Measures Implementation Act,” financial arbiter Alfred Mifsud wrote in reply to the reporters’ questions, clarifying that “The aim is to render all victims of fraud as eligible customers of any licensed  financial services provider involved in the suspected fraudulent payment transaction.”

    The arbiter added, “A decision on case no. 155/2024 should be issued shortly being a case which for particular circumstances was not blocked by ineligibility criteria and proceeded to be adjudicated on merits.”

    If you have been a victim of this or similar scams, please reach out to julian@amphora.media or daiva@amphora.media. You can consult a handbook of scams by the eSkills Malta Foundation here, or contact the Victim Support Agency.

  • Woman Sanctioned for ‘Enabling’ Russian Sanction Evasion Still Maltese Citizen Three Years Later

    Woman Sanctioned for ‘Enabling’ Russian Sanction Evasion Still Maltese Citizen Three Years Later

    By Joanna Demarco

    Maltese companies sanctioned for links to the notorious Serniya network remain active despite criminal charges

    A Russian national named on a US sanctions list for allegedly enabling Russia’s intelligence services and helping it evade Western sanctions through the notorious Serniya network remains a Maltese citizen nearly three years after the Home Affairs Ministry announced its intention to revoke her citizenship.

    The Home Affairs Ministry announced it would begin the process of the “deprivation of Maltese citizenship” of Evgeniya Vladimirovna Bernova on 1st April 2022.  However, an analysis by Amphora Media of government gazettes published between 2021 and today shows that only four persons have had their citizenship revoked. None of them are Bernova. 

    Since a change in the law in December 2020, the government is legally bound to “ensure that the names of those persons deprived of Maltese citizenship are published by means of a notice in the [Government] Gazette”.

    Agenzija Kommunita Malta –  the government agency responsible for citizenship-related matters – confirmed with Amphora Media that the persons who had their citizenship revoked were solely the ones published in the government gazette. 

    Bernova’s Maltese citizenship status was also verified through the Malta Business Registry database, where she remains listed as ‘Maltese’ under ‘nationality’. Her name is still listed on the “frequently updated” US sanctions list today.

    Evgeniya Bernova

    Evgeniya Bernova (third from left) at an event organised at the Hilton for the local film industry by her company MaltaRent Ltd. in 2016. According to archived pages from its website, MaltaRent was established locally to “supply the latest digital technology to … clients from the film industry”.

    Bernova is not alone. Tal Dilian – an Israeli intelligence expert, an IDF reserve colonel and founder of Intellexa – a cyber spyware firm known for creating the notorious ‘Predator’ spyware – was named on a US sanctions list in March 2024 but still retains his Maltese citizenship with the ministry announcing that it would be kicking off the revocation process a year ago.

    Similarly, Semen Kuksov, a Maltese citizen imprisoned in the United Kingdom for “running a professional banking service for criminals across the world” as part of a wider billion-dollar-money-laundering network, also remains a citizen after his revocation process began at the end of 2024. 

    Asked by Amphora Media about the fate of Bernova, Dillian, and Kuksov’s Maltese citizenship, the ministry said that “(until finalised)…deprivation processes are internal Ministerial matters.” 

    “It is to be emphasised that thereafter the publication of the names of the persons concerned is mandatory by law. Thus, the publication of names occurs when the deprivation processes are finalised,” a spokesperson said. 

    The reasons behind the lengthy processes could vary, and the Ministry said that “there are no statutory timelines” for the process, reiterating that the person being deprived of citizenship could opt to lodge an inquiry with the Committee of Inquiry. This could prolong the procedure.

    The Ministry did not specify whether appeals have been filed.

    Semen Kuksov

    Bernova’s Maltese companies remain active despite sanctions

    Bernova’s companies – including Maltese companies Malberg Ltd, Djeco Group Holding Ltd and Maltarent Ltd – were named on the list of sanctions imposed by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in March 2022, shortly after Russia’s war on Ukraine began. 

    The sanctions were part of a “crackdown on the Kremlin’s sanctions evasion networks and technology companies, which are instrumental to the Russian Federation’s war machine.” The network became known as the Serniya network.

    Moscow-based OOO Serniya Engineering, which was at the centre of the network, engaged in proliferation activities at the direction of Russian Intelligence Services, OFAC had reported.

    The network “operated across multiple countries to obfuscate the Russian military and intelligence agency end-users that rely on critical Western technology.”

    It explained that Bernova, an associate of the Serniya network, operated the Malta-based Malberg Ltd through a multinational web of shell companies. Malberg worked to “deceptively acquire dual-use equipment on behalf of Russian end-users.” 

    In December 2022, five Russian nationals and two U.S nationals were charged with conspiracy and other offences related to the global procurement and money laundering scheme through the Serniya network on behalf of the Russian government. As of November 2024, two have pleaded guilty, while the rest remain at large. 

    However, despite the sanctions, allegations and links to criminal charges against the network, all three companies remain active, a cross-check by Amphora Media with the Malta Business Registry shows.

    According to Malta’s Sanctioning Monitoring Board, OFAC’s sanctions are not enforceable. However, it “recommended that Maltese economic operators undertake the necessary due diligence when dealing with persons, entities and bodies listed by national sanctions of other countries, particularly paying close attention to the reasons why such sanctions have been imposed in the first place”.

    The situation raises questions about the potential ramifications of such long revocation processes on local, EU, and international levels.

    In a comment to Amphora Media, Steve Peers, an EU Law Professor at Royal Holloway, University of London, explained that the EU law on sanctions does not explicitly require the Member States to revoke citizenship from those who evade those sanctions, however, doing so would make sanctions more effective.

    “It might possibly be argued… that there is an implied obligation to remove citizenship to make the sanctions more effective, in particular in the context of investor citizenship,” he said. 

    It is unclear why the Maltese government decided to begin procedures to revoke Bernova’s citizenship. Still, the companies involved in the same sanctions list remain active, and questions sent to the government were left unanswered at the time of publication.

    Amphora Media was unable to confirm whether Bernova acquired citizenship through naturalisation or investment. 

    One golden passport buyer loses citizenship in the last four years

    Since the change of law in December 2020, only one golden passport buyer has had their Maltese citizenship revoked, Amphora Media can reveal.

    Pavel Melnikov is among the four persons listed in the government gazettes as having their citizenships revoked – the other three did not feature in the citizenship list since the introduction of the IIP scheme 2013 or lost their citizenship due to marriage annulments, research by Amphora Media shows.

    The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation and partners had reported on the Russian entrepreneur’s citizenship application in Passport Papers. 

    In September 2018, Melnikov’s property in Finland was raided by Finnish police and soldiers. A trial against the oligarch in Finnish Courts began in December 2023, according to local news reports, where he faced charges including aggravated tax fraud and aggravated accounting crime. The trial is ongoing.

  • Alleged Illegal Betting Mogul Funneled Funds Through Binance Wallet In Malta

    Alleged Illegal Betting Mogul Funneled Funds Through Binance Wallet In Malta

    By Daiva Repečkaitė and Julian Bonnici

    • Halil Falyalı, a late Turkish Cypriot businessman allegedly behind an illegal betting empire, used Binance to move millions of funds.
    • Turkish financial crimes investigators’ report listed around 100 cryptocurrency wallets they said were used by the group to transfer the “revenues of crime.”
    • Over $29 million passed through Falyalı’s Binance Global accounts.
    • The account with Binance Global was opened when Binance was not licensed to operate as a financial service provider in Malta.
    • Falyalı’s widow says he declared crypto assets abroad worth €30 million, $10 million and £10 million in various cryptocurrencies.
    • Using blockchain records, reporters found that the known wallets of the network received more than €1.3 billion since 2018.

    Halil Falyalı, a late Turkish Cypriot businessman allegedly behind an illegal betting empire, is believed to have moved his money using the Malta-based cryptocurrency exchange Binance, a collaborative investigation by Amphora Media and Times of Malta has revealed.

    Falyalı, who was once indicted in absentia in the US in 2015 for allegedly laundering drug money, was murdered in 2022 when his car was ambushed by gunmen with automatic weapons.

    The workings of his alleged illegal gambling network and its links to Malta were recently revealed in a collaborative investigation between OCCRP, Amphora Media, Times of Malta and other media partners.

    A 2022 Turkish financial crimes investigators’ report listed around 100 cryptocurrency wallets they said were used by the group to transfer the “revenues of crime”.

    The report identified Binance TR – the Turkish branch of Binance – as one of the three crypto asset service providers used by the network. Using these providers, individuals within the network collected transfers from others and then forwarded them into accounts held by crypto asset service providers. Investigators noted that over $29 million passed through Falyalı’s Binance Global accounts.

    Using blockchain records, reporters found that the known wallets of the network received more than €1.3 billion since 2018.

    In December last year, Turkish prosecutors indicted more than 240 people, including Falyalı’s widow, on illegal gambling and money laundering charges. The posthumous indictment accused Falyalı of “establishing an organisation with the aim of committing crime.”

    Turkish investigators asked the Binance branch in Malta to identify the owner of an account central to the crypto transfers. Binance confirmed that the cryptocurrency wallet belonged to Halil Cahit/Djahit, a Cypriot citizen.

    Investigators were able to confirm that Djahit is an alias of Halil Falyalı. Halil Djahit was Falyalı’s name on his Greek Cypriot ID. Meanwhile, Falyalı submitted a copy of his Cypriot passport and a selfie to open his account. 

    After Falyalı’s death, investigators noted that his widow made a large withdrawal from his Binance account. In her testimony upon indictment, Özge Taşker Falyalı confirmed that she held a wallet at Binance Global under her maiden name – and that her husband had declared crypto assets abroad worth €30 million, $10 million and £10 million in various cryptocurrencies. She denied the charges against her.

    The report suggests that the account was opened with the Malta-based Binance Global on 26th November 2020 – when Binance was not licensed to operate as a financial service provider in Malta.

    Read more of the Betting on Billions investigation.

    Investigators also believe the detected transactions are only a fraction of the money movements within this network. 

    Cemil Önal, Falyalı’s longtime head of finance who is facing charges linked to illegal gambling and faces broader claims of being “one of the masterminds” of Falyalı’s murder, says that the network allegedly earned €75 million a month, while authorities have seized around €40 million in assets.

    Credit: Courtesy of Cemil Önal. Cemil Önal (left) with Özge Taşker Falyali (right).

    Speaking to our partners OCCRP, Önal claims that Falyalı’s network also used so-called cold wallets, devices for storing cryptocurrency keys offline, without connecting them to the internet. 

    Recipients of betting revenues would transfer their cryptocurrency assets into these wallets. These devices are then physically transported, and the money is cashed.

    In response to reporters’ questions about the alleged illegal betting tycoon’s accounts, a representative of Binance said, “Binance aims to set a high standard for compliance across the industry, proactively detecting and preventing illicit activity both on and off our platform. We work closely with law enforcement and industry partners to enhance security and regulatory compliance. This includes advanced AI-driven identity verification, ensuring a robust and effective Know Your Customer (KYC) process.”

    In 2023, Binance’s co-founder and, at the time, majority owner Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering programme in the US. In his plea, Zhao admitted telling employees that it was “better to ask for forgiveness than permission”.

    A base in Malta

    Binance moved to Malta in 2018, taking advantage of the welcoming environment for cryptocurrency companies at the time. 

    In 2018, Malta adopted an act which provided a grace period to cryptocurrency operators of 12 months to apply for an appropriate licence. Within months from opening, Binance signed an agreement with the Malta Stock Exchange “to launch a new digital exchange for security token trading”.

    However, the company never acquired the licence to operate in financial services, and in February 2020, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) issued a statement that “Binance is not authorised by the MFSA to operate in the cryptocurrency sphere”.

    Economy Minister Silvio Schembri with Binance’s Changpeng Zhao and others.

    A flurry of warnings to the public from regulatory authorities followed: in the UK, Poland, Germany and even the Cayman Islands, where its main holding was based. 

    Soon, Binance found itself in more trouble. In 2023, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission charged the company and its founder, Zhao, for circumventing legally required compliance controls to maximise corporate profits. The company and its founder pleaded guilty to the US charges of anti-money laundering failings. 

    After pleading guilty, Zhang was sentenced to four months in prison, and Binance agreed to pay $2.85 billion for willfully evading US law and other violations. Zhao finished serving his sentence last September.

    Halil Falyal and Özge Taşker Falyalı

    Blockchain for betting revenues

    The northern part of Cyprus, where the Falyalı family resided, is occupied by Türkiye. Türkiye is working on cryptocurrency legislation of its own, and as it stands, Binance continues offering services there.

    Individuals who have made transfers identified in the financial investigators’ report were found to have accounts with Binance TR (registered as (BN Teknoloji A.Ş. and incorporated in 2019).

    For a time, Zhao was personally its shareholder, but the latest data shows that the shares are held by Binance’s holding company in Ireland.

    Türkiye banned cryptocurrencies as a payment method in 2021 but then adopted a programme to regulate and tax cryptocurrencies between 2024 and 2026. The country’s Revenue Administration considers cryptocurrencies to be assets, and as such, they can be inherited.

    Amphora Media collaborated with the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Times of Malta, Follow the Money (Netherlands), Hetq (Armenia), Investigative Reporting Lab Macedonia, Belarusian Investigative Center and Shteg.org (Albania) on the research for this publication.

  • SiGMA ‘Leader of the Year’ and SoftConstruct Chief’s Alleged Role in Illegal Betting Operations

    SiGMA ‘Leader of the Year’ and SoftConstruct Chief’s Alleged Role in Illegal Betting Operations

    By Daiva Repečkaitė and Julian Bonnici

    • Documents link Vigen Badalyan, an Armenian with Maltese citizenship, to VBETTR, and its numerous iterations – illegal gambling sites blacklisted in Türkiye
    • Illegal VBETTR websites carry partnerships with the Maltese Premier League and the Malta National Football team
    • Records and a first-hand account suggest Badalyan & his SoftConstruct provided services to the illegal gambling network of Halil Falyalı, a Turkish Cypriot businessman murdered in 2022.

    Vigen Badalyan, an Armenian with Maltese citizenship, was named “leader of the year” for his “visionary strategies” at SiGMA Europe 2024 in Malta, a government-endorsed conference which carried the logo of Badalyan’s BetConstruct on every participant’s badge. However, an investigation by an international media consortium has shown that Badalyan’s interests allegedly extend to lucrative illegal gambling markets, notably in Türkiye.

    Documents obtained by OCCRP, Amphora Media and other media partners have uncovered that Vigen Badalyan was behind vbettr.com and its numerous iterations – illegal gambling sites blacklisted in Türkiye. This website family is a Turkish twin of Badalyan’s Vbet brand. Vbet has partnered with the Maltese Premier League and the Malta National Football team, and this is displayed on the Türkiye-targeting website as well.

    SoftConstruct’s legal team said, “Vbettr.com is not owned, managed, or operated by SoftConstruct or Vigen Badalyan”. However, they did not reply to our request for clarification when provided with website registrations, which showed the contrary.

    Vigen Badalyan and Economy Minister Silvio Schembri
    Vigen Badalyan and Economy Minister Silvio Schembri. Source: Vigen Badalyan’s Instagram

    According to a former head of finance of slain alleged illegal gambling tycoon Halil Falyalı, Badalyan’s companies allegedly provide betting infrastructure to Falyalı’s illicit network. 

    The investigation team verified website registration data to find that SoftConstruct Limited is listed as the internet service provider for at least four websites blacklisted in Türkiye that were registered by Ibrahim Tokkan.

    Tokkan was indicted in 2024 as an alleged manager of the illegal betting network of Halil Falyalı and worked for companies belonging to the Falyalı family. He denies the charges.

    Read more about Halil Falyalı global betting empire in this story by our publishing partners, OCCRP

    And our story exploring the alleged network’s operations in Malta

    The legal team of SoftConstruct denied the claims, saying, “We categorically reject any suggestion of involvement in unlawful activities or associations with criminal organizations. As a B2B [business-to-business] technology provider, SoftConstruct supplies gaming software solutions, but it does not operate or control third-party businesses that use its products.”

    The Badalyan’s ties to Malta and VBETTR’s operations

    Vigen Badalyan and his brother, Vahe, are known for founding Soft Construct, which owns the BetConstruct brand. Data from 2021 shows that in Malta, they were the declared beneficial owners of Vivaro (now SCGO) and Soft Construct (Malta), as well as owners of FastShift Ltd. and V Venture Ltd.

    The brothers and members of their families have become naturalised Maltese citizens through the citizenship-by-investment scheme. 

    In a corporate network that spans continents, Soft Construct and BetConstruct offer products and services targeting businesses (so-called B2B products), while Vbet targets gamblers directly.

    VbetMaltaSponsor

    Vbet websites are owned by corresponding national branches or the Maltese branch, which targets several EU countries and the UK. Badalyan companies use similar brands across jurisdictions.

    Their Maltese companies, either owned directly or via the Isle of Man, are registered at the same address in Portomaso and have, over time, shared the same directors.

    Yet there is one website, and its many spelling variations, which, despite similar branding, is not immediately recognisable as part of the Vbet family and does not appear to be run by the same people.

    VbetTR, with its numerous iterations, does not appear on the official whitelist of licensed gambling operators in Türkiye. On the contrary, different numbered variations of VbetTR are found on the country’s blacklist.

    Still, websites targeting gamblers in Türkiye have carried the familiar Vbet logo and display the Badalyan company’s partnerships with European football clubs.

    Malta Premier League and Malta National Team logos on an illegal VBETTR website

    The website targeting Türkiye is listed on a licence issued by Curacao – as a recent investigation by Follow the Money shows, Curacao is a go-to jurisdiction for gambling operators in the grey area. While they obtain some form of licence, they do not operate with one that covers the jurisdiction of their target players. In this case, being a licensed gambling provider in Curacao -or Malta- does not entitle a provider to offer gambling in Türkiye.

    Historical domain data for the vbettr.com website reveals that in 2019, the registrant’s name was listed as “Badalyan Vigen”, and the associated email address was team.webmaster@betconstruct.com.

    In response to reporters’ questions, SoftConstruct’s legal team said, “Vbettr.com is not owned, managed, or operated by SoftConstruct or Vigen Badalyan. To the best of our knowledge, the website in question [vbettr] was not registered using the email address team.webmaster@betconstruct.com. We have no record of this email being used for such a registration, and we are not aware of any connection between our systems and this domain.”

    Badalyan’s AI chatbot on BetConstruct’s website provided a different answer.

    Asked if his companies offer betting services in Türkiye, Badalyan’s chatbot said, “Yes, some of the companies co-founded by Vigen Badalyan, such as Vbet, offer betting services in Turkey. However, it’s important to check the specific regulations and availability of services in the region, as they can vary. If you need more detailed information, please let me know!”

    Amphora Media requested clarification on the discrepancies between SoftConstruct’s replies and the documents found by reporters showing Vigen Badalyan’s involvement. However, no replies were forthcoming.

    BetConstruct at Sigma 2024

    The director of IT Management Santora B.V., VbetTR’s Curacao licence holder, is Yeva Asiryan, who actively promotes BetConstruct on her Facebook account and, in some documents, appears as Yevgenya Asiryan. ‘Asiryan Yevgenya’ is also the registrant contact name on BetConstruct’s Canadian website. BetConstruct expanded into Canada in early 2025.

    In response to questions sent in 2021 by our publishing partner, Hetq, a representative of Soft Construct CJSC denied knowingly participating in illegal gambling in Türkiye, saying that the company merely provides technology to various gambling operators globally, including those that target “the Turkish-speaking clients scattered around the world”.

    Read Hetq’s story here.

    Badalyan companies have faced regulatory action before

    This is not the first time the brothers’ businesses are subject to regulatory action. In 2020, the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit in Malta issued Malta-based Vivaro Ltd a  €733,160 fine, but it was challenged and revoked on constitutional grounds. There are two pending court cases involving Vivaro, one in the constitutional court.

    In response to reporters’ questions, the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) said, “The MGA collaborates with a wide range of international stakeholders to ensure that the gaming sector is not misused for money laundering or other criminal purposes. Therefore, when you reference Vivaro (now SCGO) and the fines that were issued by the FIAU, we would like to note that these were a direct result of a full-scope examination conducted by the MGA, where we identified a number of shortcomings. The FIAU subsequently imposed an administrative fine of €733,160 and a Follow-up Directive. The sanctions issued by the FIAU are currently pending court proceedings.”

    In 2021, Swedish gambling authorities wanted to suspend the Malta-based Vivaro Ltd’s gambling licence over failing to commence operations within a year from registration. Vivaro Ltd responded in its statement that during the period June 2020 – May 2021 it had no turnover in Sweden and that 50 staff members were drafted into the Armenian army.

    In the financial statement from January to December 2021, submitted to the Malta Business Registry, Vivaro reported receiving income from Sweden and having five employees in Malta. Still, Sweden’s Administrative Court reversed the decision of the gambling authorities to suspend its licences for commercial online gaming and betting and issued a warning, according to the Swedish Gambling Authority”.

    In the UK, failings were found in Vivaro’s, since renamed SCGO’s, processes for money laundering prevention and safer gambling, but in 2023, SCGO reached a settlement with the UK Gambling Commission and agreed to pay £337,631.

    In Romania, vbet.com found itself blacklisted by authorities in 2018 for operating without a licence. But in 2024, BetConstruct announced obtaining a licence to provide B2C betting (that is, targeting customers directly) in Romania. As the original Vbet website remains blocked, the company launched with the “Victory Bet” domain, registered by the Malta-based V Venture.

    Meanwhile, Vigen Badalyan continues touring gaming events around the world, attending exclusive interviews, and collecting new gambling licences for his companies.

    SiGMA did not respond to questions sent.

    Amphora Media collaborated with the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Times of Malta, Public Record (Romania), Follow the Money (Netherlands), Hetq (Armenia), Investigative Reporting Lab Macedonia, Belarusian Investigative Center and Shteg.org (Albania) on the research for this investigation.