Rich housewives and well-known businessmen: the high-rolling clients of Tumas Gaming
A recent FIAU reports shows how clients dropped hundreds of thousands of euro in Tumas-owned casinos
12 May 2021, 7:38am
by Nicole Meilak
Alfred Degiorgio (right) brother of George (left) played hundreds of thousands at the Tumas Gaming casinos. George’s partner Anca Pop is facing accusations of money laundering together with the two brothers
In September 2018 Malta heard how Alfred Degiorgio, among the accused in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, gambled €570,000 over the years, losing €71,000 in the meantime.
Degiorgio was a regular client of the Dragonara Casino, gambling over €39,000 in three years while losing €18,000 of these at the establishment. In addition to this, he gambled €40,000 in the Oracle Casino and over €457,000 at the Portomaso casino establishment. He lost €31,000 and €16,000 at Oracle and Portomaso respectively.
Tumas Gaming has been slapped with a €233,000 fine after an investigation by the Financial Intelligence and Analysis Unit found it had failed to implement measures to address major threats to their money laundering supervision.
Tumas Gaming operates the gaming division within Tumas Group, including the Oracle Casino, the Portomaso Casino, Portomaso Gaming and gaming shops.
The FIAU found that Tumas Gaming Limited had breached money laundering regulations by, among others, failing to conduct proper risk assessments of the risks it was exposed to, particularly in relation to its players.
The second inspection was carried out after it became known that former Malta Gaming Authority CEO Heathcliff Farrugia allegedly colluded with Daphne Caruana Galizia murder suspect Yorgen Fenech to try to prevent the publication of findings of an inspection revealing weak anti-money laundering controls at the Tumas Gaming casinos.