Betfred Accused of Backtracking on Pledge to Pay MoPlay Customers

Posted on: April 20, 2020, 11:41h. 

Last updated on: April 20, 2020, 03:11h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More

Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.

UK betting operator Betfred is accused of reneging on a promise to honor the funds of former MoPlay customers.

Betfred acquired MoPlay’s customer database from a liquidator last month after the latter declared insolvency on February 22. Just days earlier, Gibraltar-based Addison Global, which traded as MoPlay, had stopped processing customer withdrawals after its gambling licenses were revoked by regulators in Gibraltar and the UK.

Many MoPlay customers feared their money was lost, but Betfred’s intervention offered new hope.

In mid-March, MoPlay emailed its customer list to say it had been agreed that players based in the UK and Ireland would “be given the opportunity to have their cash balances honored by Betfred.”

Bettors would simply have to register for an account with Betfred to unfreeze the cash held in their MoPlay accounts, the email explained.

“We apologize that it has taken so long to achieve this result for you. But it was important to ensure that the operator who we came to an agreement with was highly reputable and met strict data protection and privacy standards,” read the email.

Players Too Profitable?

According to The Guardian, around 180,000 MoPlay accounts migrated to Betfred a few weeks ago. Some customers reported on social media that the bookmaker had honored their balances. But others said they still had no access to their funds, accusing the company of being selective about whom it paid.

Some MoPlay customers told the betting internet forum Justice4Punters that Betfred had chosen not to unfreeze their balances because their accounts had in the past been “restricted” because they were long-term winning sports bettors.

“We’ve received a fair number of complaints,” Brian Chappell of Justice4Punters told The Guardian. “All the complaints seem to have one thing in common — they have restricted betting accounts, be that with MoPlay and/or with Betfred.

From what we’ve been sent, it’s certainly not clear to J4P why these customers are being treated differently, except it all seems rather commercially convenient,” added Chappell.

A Betfred spokesperson said: “We did not conduct any due diligence on the profitability of individuals in the MoPlay customer database, nor did we close any BetFred accounts to prevent migration of MoPlay balances.

“Our actions to date are 100 percent in accordance with the terms of the contract with the liquidator, and for those customers who did not migrate, we are directing them to the liquidator to submit a claim in the liquidation.”

Man. Utd Clash

MoPlay launched with a splash in 2018, quickly signing an “official betting partner” deal with English soccer giant Manchester United. But according to the application for liquidation filed to the Gibraltar Supreme Court last month, the company was promised $160 million in financial backing prior to launch, less than half of which actually materialized.

In September 2019, United sued Addison Global, which traded as MoPlay, seeking $15.5 million in missed payments.

Court documents revealed that the ultimate beneficial owner of Addison Global was Trump donor and American payday loans mogul Roderick Aycox.