Greek regulator the Gaming Supervision and Control Committee (EEEP) has published a brief statement declaring that it knows a “serious operational problem” exists within online operator Betshop.
Betshop responded with a message on its website stating: “Our Company is in the unfortunate position to announce that, due to a sudden and abusive seizure of its customer service bank account by the tax authorities, it is forced to suspend its operations until the resulting issue is rectified.”
The company went on to claim that the issue in question concerns withholding tax from the years 2013 and 2014. “The tax administration decided that we should have withheld more tax from our customers. The authorities are looking for money from us, WHICH WE HAVE NOT COLLECTED [sic] from our customers.”
Betshop said that the amount owed was calculated arbitrarily and that it had communicated with the authorities over the amount owed before the shutdown, and that these communications were “blatantly ignored”.
The EEEP wrote that it has taken “every necessary action to safeguard their legitimate interests” and is in the process of “analyzing the data”.
The Hellenic Gaming Commission fined Betshop’s parent company, B2B Gaming Service Malta Ltd, which is based in Malta, in October 2023 for €500,000.
However, the fine has still not been paid and Betshop has appealed the decision.
At the time of publication the regulator had not responded to a request for comment.