According to recent reports, the Maltese directors of Genesis Global had abandoned the company about two months prior to the massive lay-offs that saw approximately 130 employees of the operator suddenly dismissed from their jobs just before Christmas 2022.
It seems that the local workers of the London-based online gambling company received only termination letters by email but they did not receive their salaries for December 2022. All of that happened at a time when the company was being announced as insolvent due to facing “serious financial difficulties”.
As confirmed by The Shift, only two months before the lay-offs took place at Genesis Global, the two Maltese directors of the operator – the chief executive officer Mark Attard and the audit, advisory and tax firm BDO Consult Limited – stepped down from their respective directorship roles at the online gambling company at the end of October 2022. That was less than eight weeks before the situation became uncontrollable and the operator let go of its competent workforce on December 23rd, 2022, by email.
As Casino Guardian reported at the end of January 2022, Genesis Global faced a significant £3.8-million fine by the UK gambling regulatory body. Apart from that, in February 2022, the company was also hit by regulatory action from the competent gambling authorities in Belgium and Sweden due to the company’s failure to comply with the two countries’ anti-money laundering legislation, which eventually resulted in fines exceeding €4.6-million and €386,000, respectively.
Last month, the operating licence of Genesis Global was suspended by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA).
Two of the Online Gambling Operator’s Directors Quietly Leave 2 Months Prior to Massive Lay-Offs
Late last week, The Shift contacted the former CEO of the company – Mark Attard – asking him to explain his and BDO Consult Limited’s early departures from Genesis Global. At the time, Mr Attard refused to comment on the situation because he was no longer involved in the company’s operations. When the media hub explained that it contacted him to give him the chance to explain his departure from the online gambling operator right before the massive lay-offs took place and the company filed for bankruptcy, Mr Attard said he was in a meeting and promised to return the call. Such a call, however, never happened.
Genesis Holdings Limited, based in Malta, is the mother company that currently owns a number of brands, including Genesis Global Limited, Genesis Stellar Limited, and Genesis Evolve Limited. The mother company and Genesis Global Limited filed for bankruptcy in the Maltese courts on December 16th, 2022, which was an entire week before the company’s workers were informed they were being dismissed due to the company’s insolvency.
There were once three directors of Genesis Global. As mentioned above, CEO Mark Attard and BDO Consult Limited resigned their directorships and legal representations at the online gambling operator in October last year, leaving Yaniv Meydan as the only director of the company. Mr Meydan, who is also the chief executive officer of the Meydan Group, is the owner of the Malta-based financial structure of Genesis Global. Reportedly, it was he who eventually decided to shut the company’s business down.
Currently, Genesis Global does not appear in the portfolio of businesses and investments listed on Meydan Group’s website.
Former Global Genesis’ Workers to Get in Line with Other Creditors
According to documents filed at the Malta Business Registry, both Mark Attard and BDO Consult Limited resigned as Genesis Global’s directors and judicial representatives as of October 21st, 2022. Mr. Attard also left his role as a company secretary as of October 24th, 2022.
Less than two months after that, 130 employees of Genesis Global received an email informing them they were being dismissed as a result of the company’s insolvency. The workers were also told they would not receive their outstanding salaries for December 2022 or any other sums they were due. They were told that the online gambling operator was trying its best to find a solution to the issue.
Currently, the online gambling operator is facing trial and the next court hearing is scheduled for February 22nd, 2023.
It seems that it would not be easy for Genesis Global’s employees to recover their due salaries. In a recent interview, Dr Andrew Borg Cordona – a labour and employment law specialist – shared that the road for the workers to recover their wages is likely to be a long one and it would depend on the company’s financial status. Considering the ongoing insolvency proceedings faced by the operator, the laid-off workers would have to get in line with the rest of Genesis Global’s creditors.
One part of the online gambling company’s financial issues would likely be the £3.8-million fine imposed by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) as a result of the regulator’s investigation that identified a few violations of the anti-money laundering and social responsibility regulations of the company that took place in 2020. As the British gambling watchdog announced at the time, Genesis Global had committed at least three violations of the country’s social responsibility rules and three violations of the UK anti-money laundering rules.
- Author
Olivia Cole
