Tag: CASHlib

Online casinos are easily transferable digital assets. The transfer of Gammix Ltd's casinos to offshore operator Starscream Ltd raises serious questions about the continued illegal gambling activities in Europe. Despite massive penalties from the Dutch regulator KSA, Gammix appears to have simply shifted its operations offshore, where it continues to flout regulatory oversight facilitated by regulated payment processors.

As part of our “Follow the Money” research strategy, we look at online casino and gambling schemes and analyze the facilitating payment processors. We often discover FinTechs such as Revolut, MoonPay or Binance Pay, but also many open banking service providers such as Noda. We also discovered a number of facilitating payment processors at the online casinos of the Starscream Group in addition to illegal activities. Here is our review.

Leon.bet is an online casino licensed in Curacao by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission and operated by Moonlite N.V. on Curacao. We have found Covimal Limited in Cyprus to be the payment agent. The scheme works with dozens of different domains that do not even have a license from Curacao. Despite the lack of a regulatory license, the huge Leon scheme accepts customers from Europe and other regulatory regimes. We included the Leon scheme in our Red Compliance list.

In April 2024, we conducted an initial review of the online gambling platform Spinbookie, which resulted in its placement on our Red Compliance list. Since then, we have delved deeper into this platform's background and uncovered significant concerns regarding its ownership and operational transparency. Our findings necessitate a thorough and scrutinizing update to our initial review.

PlayRegal is a scheme mirroring the previously exposed and illegally operating online casino, Atlantis Slots. Both platforms utilize the same payment facilitators. Following our investigation, Atlantis Slots has removed references to its alleged operating company in Curacao and its Cypriot payment agent. Likewise, the PlayRegal website fails to provide information about the operators. Evidence suggests that both schemes are operated by the same individuals.

In recent developments, FinTelegram has highlighted the troubling disappearance of the ByPin e-voucher system. ByPin, operated by Berry Solutions Ltd, a Maltese-registered company, has been placed on the Red Compliance and Red Risk lists by the cyberfinance rating agency PayRate42. This follows our recent review of e-voucher schemes CASHlib and ByPin, both of which were subsequently added to the FinTelegram Red Compliance List.

Sureswipe E.M.I. operates as an e-money institution (EMI) within high-risk segments such as online casinos, sports betting, and gambling, primarily through licensed domains and brands rather than its own Revsto brand. The licensing from EMD agents to service merchants in these segments raises significant transparency concerns. The company’s regulated status by the Central Bank of Cyprus and its lack of disclosure about its high-risk segment activities further compound these concerns.

Recent investigations by FinTelegram have revealed that CASHlib, a prepaid voucher service related to the Maltese Berry Solutions Ltd the the Cyprus E-Money Institution Sureswipe EMI PLC, is acting as a facilitating payment processor for the illegal online casino and gambling scheme Atlantis Slots. The CASHlib scheme enables users to make anonymous payments to high-risk merchants. CASHlib is related to ByPin, another prepaid voucher scheme. We would like to learn more.

Atlantis Slots, operated by Pennytech Holding B.V. operates with a non-valid gambling license from Curacao. In our review, we found that Atlantis Slots is engaging in illegal operations within the European Economic Area (EEA). Despite its lack of regulatory permission in these regions, Atlantis Slots continues to offer online casino and gambling services, facilitated by payment processors Continent Pay, Neosurf, Binance Pay, Sofort and CASHlib.

AstroPay is operated by Larstal Limited, a company registered in the UK and regulated by the FCA as an e-Money Institution. Besides, AP Global Corporation LLC, UK, and Galactic Mark Limited, HK, are also listed as operators on the website. The beneficial owners are Uruguayan nationals Andrés Bzurovski Bay and Sergio Enrique Fogel Kaplan. AstroPay Cards, sold through resellers such as MorPay or Paywards, have become very popular as a means of payment among high-risk merchants and scammers.

Many retail investors have lost money via the broker scam 27ProQuote. The attackers behind it are apparently in the process of closing the scam. Currently, the server of 27ProQuote is no longer accessible. We have reports of victims who have lost over €100,000 in some cases. The Maltese ApcoPay operated by Apco Systems Ltd registered in Malta processed the payments. We would like to know more about ApcoPay to expose the scammers and find the victims' funds.