Troubled UK online gambling operator 666Bet has acknowledged it needs to raise additional funds in order to refund its customers’ balances, according to a statement released to the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC).
666Bet’s owner, the Alderney-registered Metro Play Limited, had its UK operating license suspended in March due to a £21m money laundering and VAT fraud investigation that ensnared 666Bet director Paul Bell. Since then, both 666Bet and Metro Play customers have been trying to withdraw their account balances. The sites finally began making payments in May via online payment processor Skrill but gave customers a May 24 deadline for making withdrawal requests.
On Friday, the UKGC posted a statement to its website updating customers on the payout process. The UKGC said it understood that “some customers have experienced difficulties in making withdrawal requests and a number of customers have not yet been paid.” The UKGC added that customers “have been unable to make contact with Metro Play as customer support resource, which the Commission was informed would become available, has not yet been provided.”
The UKGC said it had been “informed by Metro Play’s chairman and major shareholder that he plans to make additional funds available to enable payments to customers.” Players who have yet to have their withdrawals processed will be contacted and offered “an alternative payment method to Skrill (most likely a bank transfer).”
While the 666bet website is currently displaying only an apology notice, Metro Play told the UKGC that it would be publishing a contact email on Monday, June 1 to handle customer queries. Once this email address is published, Metro Play will “process the withdrawals manually when the customers provide us with the relevant information.”
