Maltese Gambling Operator Genesis Global Declared Bankrupt
The Maltese gambling company Genesis Global Limited applied for bankruptcy earlier this week. Due to the declared bankruptcy of Genesis, announced just before Christmas, the 150 employees of the iGaming concerns were informed about the personnel changes which in most cases mean that they are fired.
At the beginning of December, Genesis Global Limited publicly announced that it would close their UK brands as of December 6, 2022. Genesis Global Limited operated 20 online casinos in the UK, including Casino Planet, Casino Cruise, Spinit, Spelaa, and Casino Gods. With the announced liquidation it will also seize the activities in other countries.
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No Money To Pay Salaries
Shortly afterwards, CEO Ariel Reem announced on LinkedIn that he was stepping down. Reem stated on LinkedIn “that he is ready for a new challenge”. Numerous Genesis Global employees also took the chance to announce their departure. Behind the scenes, Genesis was already reducing the workforce from 200 employees to 150 employees.
The Malta Independent writes that Genesis Global has officially applied for bankruptcy in the Maltese court. In an email to their employees, Genesis said it no longer had funds to pay the salaries. The Maltese government is working to find work for the 150 employees of Genesis who have lost their jobs. This will not be a very big obstacle, as there are 700 vacancies in Malta available at the many gambling companies operating on the island.
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Financial Problems
There have been rumours for some time that Genesis Global Ltd was going through serious financial problems. According to the local newspaper, The Malta Independent, employees were also told in previous months that it wasn’t sure whether Genesis could eventually pay the salaries or not. Genesis Global affiliates have also complained about overdue payments. An affiliate claimed to have a whopping $ 409,000 credit from Genesis Global. This affiliate added that there were different excuses, including that the company switched bank accounts.
There are also complaints that Genesis Global did not respond at all to requests to pay overdue bills. Earlier this year, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) announced that Genesis Global had to pay a fine of £ 3.8 million (NZ$ 7.3m). Genesis was fined because the company proved to do little to protect vulnerable players against themselves. According to the British regulator, players registered on the websites operated by Genesis were able to wager hundreds of thousands of British pounds without any intervention.
Money in Player accounts
Online casinos with a Maltese licence are required by the gambling law of that country to keep money that players have in their account in a separate bank account. Players who still have credits in their account at one of the Genesis Global casinos should therefore be able to get this money back. However, the terms & conditions of Spinit and Casino Cruise do not reveal what the exact procedure of the refunds is. Some of the casino websites that are part of Genesis Global are still accessible and let players sign up to their platforms.
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About Genesis Global Limited
Genesis Global Limited was established in 2014. The founders of this company are four entrepreneurs from Israel that were all very familiar with the online (gambling) industry: Ariel Reem, Gal Thein, Yoav Dotan, and Dan Segev. Ariel Reem used to work at Mansion, the company behind Casino.com, whilst Gal Thein worked at the popular game studio Playtech for many years. Yoav Dotan was the one involved in casino affiliate business and Segev was specialised in services regarding payment services.
At its peak, Genesis had 20 gambling sites offered on the internet. Genesis casinos were notorious to have a bad reputation despite their strong licences. Payouts were reported to take a long time to be processed and there was barely a responsible gaming policy in place. Casino Cruise is one of the best known brands offered by Genesis Global Limited.
We always recommend being careful when you sign up and gamble online and will make sure to point out both the strengths and weaknesses of all the online casinos we come across. Online casinos are not legalised in New Zealand, but Kiwis of 18 years and older are allowed to join offshore online casinos. We advise you to stick to websites that hold multiple licences, preferably in Europe as this maximises safety and web security.
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