Malta’s gambling regulator is conducting a review of its Italian online licensees, following that country’s latest anti-Mafia police action targeting illegal gambling operations.

Last week, Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) executive chairman Joseph Cuschieri (pictured) told Italian gaming news outlet Agimeg that he wanted to “start a collaboration” with Italy’s Anti-Mafia Commission and any other authority that “needs to know the activity of Italian gaming operators in Malta.”

Cuschieri’s comments came one week after the MGA suspended the license of Phoenix International Ltd, which operated multiple gambling sites linked to Italy’s ‘betting king’ Benedetto Bacchi, who was arrested in an Italian police anti-Mafia action dubbed Game Over.

Italian authorities alleged that Bacchi operated a network of data transmission centers (CTDs) – essentially betting shops with terminals linked to Malta-based sites – that circumvented Italian gaming authorities to avoid paying local taxes.