{"id":318908,"date":"2024-05-02T09:57:30","date_gmt":"2024-05-02T14:57:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=318908"},"modified":"2024-05-02T10:04:08","modified_gmt":"2024-05-02T15:04:08","slug":"king-gaming-raided-on-isle-of-man-in-fraud-money-laundering-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/king-gaming-raided-on-isle-of-man-in-fraud-money-laundering-probe\/","title":{"rendered":"King Gaming Raided on Isle of Man in Fraud, Money-Laundering Probe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last summer, Asian-facing online gambling operator King Gaming Ltd. obtained planning permission from the Isle of Man government to build a multimillion-dollar HQ on a derelict vacation complex.<\/p>\n

\"King
A computer rendering of King Gaming\u2019s ambitious vision for its HQ on the Isle of Man. It\u2019s unlikely the project will happen following raids that shut down King’s operations last week. (Image: Excel Group)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The project, which would have included office and residential space, plus two eateries and a landscaped park, was described by local media as the \u201clargest ever single private investment on the Isle of Man.\u201d<\/p>\n

But last week, police raided King Gaming\u2019s offices on the island and arrested seven staff members as part of an investigation into fraud, money laundering, and immigration violations.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The island\u2019s gambling regulator, the Gambling Supervision Commission, immediately suspended King\u2019s license, along with that of Dalimine Ltd., King\u2019s B2B arm.<\/p>\n

Links to Crypto Firm <\/strong><\/h2>\n

A day later, the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority ordered cryptocurrency firm, Soteria Solutions, to suspend operations because it shared directors and officers with King, and was registered at the same address.<\/p>\n

King operates the online sportsbook and casino kgvip.com, which is currently offline except for \u2013 inexplicably \u2013 users based in Japan.<\/strong><\/p>\n

King’s B2B operation, Dalamine, doesn\u2019t appear to have any customers apart from kgvip.com. Moreover, investigative soccer website Josimar<\/em> points out that the kgvip.com website has had fewer than 5,000 visitors in the past three months, hardly the numbers of a thriving gaming business. It is unclear, then, where the money for King\u2019s swanky new HQ was coming from.<\/p>\n

Asian Invasion <\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Isle of Man is a 227-square-mile, self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea. Its status as a haven for offshore banking, investment in IT infrastructure, and reputation for light-touch regulation have turned it into one of Europe\u2019s foremost jurisdictions for online gambling and fintech firms. Several well-known online gambling companies, such as PokerStars, are regulated there.<\/p>\n

\n

In recent years, some Asian-facing gaming outfits have established links to the island. Many are lured by the opportunity to operate indirectly in the UK via the \u201cwhite-label\u201d system operated by TGP Europe Ltd., among others.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This is where a website is designed to look and feel like a certain gaming brand, but the content and services provided are operated and managed by a third party. In this way, TGP runs numerous different brands on its network under its own UK license.<\/p>\n

Springboard to China<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Access to the UK market has provided many of these brands<\/a> with the opportunity to sponsor English professional soccer teams. They can then use the sport\u2019s global reach to gain exposure in markets like China, where offering and marketing gambling is strictly illegal.<\/p>\n

\n

All of these companies, like King Gaming, have opaque ownership structures. TGP has been linked to gambling sites owned by former junket kingpin Alvin Chau<\/a>, who in 2023 was sentenced to 18 years in prison in Macau for illegal gambling and criminal association.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

There\u2019s little evidence that King Gaming was in the Isle of Man to exploit this loophole, and it has no affiliation whatsoever to TGP. Meanwhile, this level of intervention by the island\u2019s authorities against one of its licensees is unprecedented, which begs the question, what was King Gaming doing there?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last summer, Asian-facing online gambling operator King Gaming Ltd. obtained planning permission from the Isle of Man government to build a multimillion-dollar HQ on a derelict vacation complex. The project, which would have included office and residential space, plus two eateries and a landscaped park, was described by local media as the \u201clargest ever single […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":318912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069,21,19,16693],"tags":[90735,82614,36,90734,90733,90736],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKing Gaming Raided on Isle of Man in Fraud, Money-Laundering Probe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Seven King Gaming employees arrested on the Isle of Man in fraud and money laundering investigation in shock raid.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/king-gaming-raided-on-isle-of-man-in-fraud-money-laundering-probe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"King Gaming Raided on Isle of Man in Fraud, Money-Laundering Probe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Seven King Gaming employees arrested on the Isle of Man in fraud and money laundering investigation in shock raid.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/king-gaming-raided-on-isle-of-man-in-fraud-money-laundering-probe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-02T14:57:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-02T15:04:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Isle-of-Man.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"562\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/king-gaming-raided-on-isle-of-man-in-fraud-money-laundering-probe\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/king-gaming-raided-on-isle-of-man-in-fraud-money-laundering-probe\/\",\"name\":\"King Gaming Raided on Isle of Man in Fraud, Money-Laundering Probe\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/king-gaming-raided-on-isle-of-man-in-fraud-money-laundering-probe\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/king-gaming-raided-on-isle-of-man-in-fraud-money-laundering-probe\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Isle-of-Man.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-02T14:57:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-02T15:04:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Seven King Gaming employees arrested on the Isle of Man in fraud and money laundering investigation in shock raid.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/king-gaming-raided-on-isle-of-man-in-fraud-money-laundering-probe\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/king-gaming-raided-on-isle-of-man-in-fraud-money-laundering-probe\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/king-gaming-raided-on-isle-of-man-in-fraud-money-laundering-probe\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Isle-of-Man.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Isle-of-Man.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":562,\"caption\":\"A computer rendering of King\u2019s ambitious vision for its HQ on the Isle of Man. 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