Following last year’s news that MoPlay owners Addison Global Limited were defaulting on monies owed, their overseeing authorities in Gibraltar this week pulled the plug on their operating licence.
On Thursday, the Gibraltar based online gaming company had its licence suspended by the Gibraltar Licensing Authority, who took the decision to suspend operations after the operator failed to honour their outstanding debts despite a possible new injection of funding being promised.
The regulator was thought to have been working with Addison Global’s company executives on the restructuring proposals that would have included making good on all of their outstanding liabilities. However, the proposed new financial support lifeline would later turn out to never materialise.
On the following day, 19th February 2020, the UK Gambling Commission also took the decision to suspend the UK Gambling License for Addison Global on the same basis, believing it a risk to customers to allow them to continue operating.
NOTICE: MoPlay Now Declared Bankrupt
MoPlay have now been declared insolvent making it very unlikely customer will get their money back. Read more about this in the next blog post.
Defaulted On Agreed Payment Plans
The company is facing serious financial difficulties and has been for some time. Last year, the sponsor of Watford and Manchester United, was taken to court by both Premier League teams, with the latter seeking £9 million after the firm defaulted on their agreed payment plans.
It is believed that the doomed operator owes significant sums to multiple affiliate partners, including a sum upwards of £500,000 to one as yet unnamed partner. Remarkably, this money is thought to have been outstanding since March 2019, almost an entire year ago.
Not long after the Gibraltarian authorities took action, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), citing sections 116 and 118 of the Gambling Act, followed suit announcing their own interim suspension. For their part, the UKGC have said that the suspension didn’t prevent Addison Global from refunding outstanding balances or settling any outstanding winning bets to customers.
Andrew Lyman, Commissioner, Gambling Licensing Authority said;
“It is most disappointing that the promised financial support from the shareholder has failed to materialise as the firm has not received the financial support it was projected to receive when first licensed.
Whilst the Directors will have to address the solvency issues, a decision has been made to suspend the relevant licenses to protect consumers from any further detriment”
Watch This Space
The firm are still currently alive, at least for the time being, however their site is displaying disclaimers admitting that they cannot take accept further bets or other gambling activities.
As yet, no indications have been given as to what customers with funds in a MoPlay account can expect to happen next, but the company does appear to be on its last legs so it is very much a case of watch this space.
Head quartered at the World Trade Centre, Addison Global, who employ around 130 people locally, were founded as a start-up in 2017 by Juergen Reutter, a former William Hill innovation guru who was seeking to launch a mobile-first sportsbook. His colleague and Chief Strategy Officer Nyreen Llamas refused to comment on the licence suspension or the status of player funds. Customers are advised to contact the site’s support email with any queries.
Only this week, the UKGC temporarily suspended the operating license of Triplebet Ltd who run the Matchbook betting exchange, following an audit that led to the parent firm conducting an independent two-year review of their business.
How To Withdraw Money & What Happens To Bets?
The MoPlay site is still live, they just won’t accept new customers or any further deposits or bets. You can login to the site normally and request a withdrawal – although you may wait longer then usual as they will have a high volume of requests.
Likewise if you have an existing bet that is yet to settle these will be allowed to continue and if you have any resulting winnings you will eb able to withdraw these.
There will become a point when the website may be closed and after this point you will need to contact them directly to request a withdrawal. They may also set a cut off at some stage for settling ante-post bets, after which you may only get your stake back.
While they are in financial difficulty one of the requirements of having a gambling license is that customer funds must be held in separate independently audited accounts, so while the company remains solvent your money will be there. It is recommended you withdraw any funds sooner rather than later however as they only have a ‘Basic’ level of protection, which means should they go bust there is no cast iron guarantee you would get your money back.
