Metagrow Solutions Loses License Over Link to Cybercrime Gang

Posted on: December 11, 2024, 10:37h. 

Last updated on: December 11, 2024, 10:51h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.

Online gambling hub the Isle of Man has revoked the license of a gaming software provider after one of its directors was imprisoned in Singapore for involvement in cybercrime.

Metagrow Solutions, Seow Gim Shen, Kong Chien Hoi, Isle of Man, Gambling Supervision Commission, GSC
Seow Gim Shen, left, and his associate, Kong Chien Hoi, leaving a Singapore court in October. Both men were convicted of attempting to buy data stolen from an online gambling company by a global cybercrime syndicate. (Image: CNA/Lim Li Ting)

The island’s Gambling Supervision Commission (GSC) took action against Metagrow Solutions, saying it was “no longer satisfied [the company] was under the control of a person of integrity.”

In October, Malaysian national and Metagrow director Seow Gim Shen was handed a prison sentence of 14 weeks. He and an associate pleaded guilty in Singapore of attempting to buy the private, personal information of 9,369 individuals.

Global Syndicate

The data had been stolen from an online gambling website by a man called Sun Jiao, who prosecutors allege is part of a global cybercrime syndicate run by Chinese nationals in Singapore.

Sun was one of seven men arrested by Singapore police in September for their alleged role in “malicious cyber operations.”

Seow was introduced to Sun by a Chinese national in 2019 at a casino in Cambodia, according to Singapore court documents. He was told Sun could provide databases of personal information that would be useful to those within the online gambling industry.

Seow then introduced Sun to an associate, Kong Chien Hoi. Seow and Kong are both major shareholders in Rexit, a Malaysian company that delivers software solutions to the insurance and financial services industries. Kong was also involved in online gambling, according to court filings.

The trio later started a chat group titled “Malaysian Data” on a secure messaging app to negotiate the sale of the stolen information. On request, Sun sent over a sample, which included the data of more than 9,000 people extracted from a larger database.

Kong had the data analyzed and found that around 2,000 names on the list, some 32%, were fully contactable via SMS. When he asked if Sun he had data from Thai customers, Sun replied that he could provide data for more than one million Thai nationals, according to court documents.

Scheme Falls Apart

Negotiations for the full database broke down when Sun was arrested. Analysis of his phone quickly led investigators to Seow and Kong.

Metagrow Solutions was licensed as a gambling software supply company by the GSC in March 2023 last year. It was incorporated in August 2022 and has registered offices in Douglas, the island’s capital.

“The Commission is aware of the reported conviction of one of Metagrow’s directors,” the GSC said in a statement. “There are other aspects of the Commission’s investigation into Metagrow that remain ongoing, and which are subject to due process. We anticipate making a further, more detailed public statement once that investigation has concluded.”