SKS365 execs depart in wake of money laundering investigation

Italy’s second-largest online bookmaker SKS365 is looking for a new CEO, group legal counsel and chief financial controller after all three stepped down from their roles.

In a statement, SKS365 confirmed that Group CEO Ian McLoughlin has chosen to pursue other opportunities, while group legal counsel Angela Gemma has returned to her role as partner in the Studio Legale Tronci Gemma law firm.

Chief financial controller Aaron Meli has moved to an advisory role within the SKS365 group, reportedly to provide consultancy services on an ongoing financial project.

The news comes two months after the company’s Planetwin365 business was implicated along with four other Italian operators in the so-called ‘Galassia’ investigation into money laundering by the Italian mafia.

The investigation, conducted by a joint task-force made up of Italian federal police and financial crime investigators, centres on a sophisticated online network which used the sites to conduct money laundering, processing over €4.5bn in bets using laundered funds.

Investigators have accused the operators of “knowingly acting” as money laundering vehicles for the network, which allegedly has links to three mafia families.

However following publication of the investigation, officials from the public prosecutor’s office in the Italian city of Reggio Calabria advised that their investigations into SKS365 “concerned only the property/management that guided the company until 2017, before its sale to new owners, against whom no elements of responsibility have emerged”.

At the time, the business was owned by a holding company SKS365 Malta. SKS365 has confirmed that the investigation, which is still ongoing does not relate to any of its current management staff.

In the wake of the allegations, the new owners of SKS365, Dutch investment firm Ramphastos issued a statement confirming their “full support and collaboration with the authorities in the fight against illegal gaming”.

Addressing the investigation, the new owners of Planetwin365 confirmed the replacement of “key managerial roles within the old set-up” with a new management that reflects “regularised corporate values”.

In addition, teams of inspectors have been assigned in the groups compliance department to verify the “legitimacy of the work of each individual point of sale and ensure that best practice is driven across the network”, while also ensuring that anti-money laundering and data protection laws are adhered to.

Fellow operator Betaland, which was also implicated, shut down its Italy-facing site following publication of the allegations.