SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Cologne law firm Heidland Werres Diederichs (HWD) has announced that it has been put in charge of the insolvency proceedings of Tipster Service GMBH (Tipster Group).
The appointment of HWD has been approved by the District Court of Cologne, which last week received an application for “the initiation of a provisional insolvency proceedings” filed by Tipster Group, the operating company of the under investigation Tipster.de sportsbook brand.
Last month, Tipster.de hit national headlines as its Cologne offices were raided by a reported +1,000 officers of the Rhine-Westphalia police force and the federal anti-corruption unit.
According to local news reports, the raid had been sanctioned by Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), the Federal Office for Organised Crime, on the grounds of illegal gambling, ‘large scale’ money laundering and tax evasion.
The investigation of Tipster.de is part of a pan-European criminal investigation involving police forces in Croatia and Malta, cooperating with the anti-corruption units in Bavaria, Berlin, Bremen and Saxony.
Tipster.de is licensed under Tipster Ltd GMBH, a sports betting provider that has held a license in Germany since 2010. Initially, its sportsbook operated under a provisional license granted by the Regional Council of Darmstadt, which was later transferred to the GlüNeuRStv regime. Its business is headquartered in Ta’Xbiex, Malta, and further manages the German brands of Norobet and Kuka.de.
In its statement, HWD notified that the “betting operations of the group, which is based in Malta with Tipster Ltd will not be affected by the insolvency filing.”
As it stands, HWD will maintain “Tipster’s business operations in full” and will ensure that “payment of employees is secured” who are required to restructure the company.
The management of Tipster Ltd has informed Cologne Courts that it will cooperate fully with authorities on its ongoing investigation.
___________________
