The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has suspended the licence previously issued to Arabmillionaire, which operates the lottery website Play Fooz.
The MGA has imposed the sanction after deeming the UAE-based lottery firm to be guilty of multiple breaches of ‘reg.9’ of the Gaming Compliance and Enforcement Regulations.
The five provisions breached include a failure to comply with an order issued by the MGA, a failure to comply with one or more applicable obligations in terms of any regulatory instrument or any other applicable law of Malta, and a failure to discharge financial commitments for its operations.
Arabmillionaire has also been accused of failing to pay monies owed to the MGA in a timely manner and being ‘in breach of the laws or regulations at any time in force for the prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism’.
As a result, Arabmillionaire is no longer authorised to carry out any gaming operations, register new players or accept customer deposits.
However, the firm is required to retain and provide access to all registered players to their player accounts and to refund all funds standing to the credit of players.
The MGA has noted on its website that its decision ‘may be subject’ to an appeal under the terms of article 443 of the Gaming Act.
Meanwhile, the authority recently launched a closed consultation period with its licensees over proposed amendments to its Player Protection Directive.