The now defunct Genesis Global Limited has had its licence to operate in Malta suspended by the Malta Gaming Authority.
In a communication on Tuesday, the MGA said that it was suspending the authorisation awarded to Genesis Global Limited effective as of 16 January 2023.
The authority said that the sanction is being imposed because the company is being wound up.
“The Authorised Person is thus no longer authorised to carry out any gaming operations, register new players or accept new customer deposits, and must continue collaborating with the Authority,” the MGA said of Genesis.
The suspension comes exactly a month after Genesis Global Ltd and its parent company Genesis Holdings Ltd filed for insolvency.
Court filings show though that Genesis Global Ltd and its main shareholder Genesis Holdings Ltd both filed for bankruptcy with Malta’s courts on 16 December – a whole week before employees were advised that the company was no longer solvent and the last day that the courts were open before going into their Christmas recess.
The company told its workers in the email that it may not be able to fulfil payments it is owed to its employees, including any outstanding salaries for the month of December or other sums which may have been due.
Employees who were made redundant as a result of the insolvency have told The Malta Independent of how the matter has caused a lot of stress on employees, not least due to the timing of the announcement but also because many need to keep up with loan repayments, rents, and children school expenses amongst other things.
There were even employees who had just applied and begun their maternity leave in the same month as being made redundant.
It is believed that around 150 employees – 130 who were made redundant on 23 December and another 20 to 25 who had served their notice but were waiting for their final pay cheque – are still be paid their December salaries.