A Maltese court has supported Betway after a player tried to claim EUR 30,279 ($32,600) in winnings using his cousin’s payment account and was linked to other self-excluded accounts.
Court Backs Betway in Dispute
The Civil Court First Hall dismissed the claim by Reegan Tharmalingam, who opened an account under the username ReeganR in May 2021, depositing funds via a Neteller account in his cousin, Sansigithan Ravichandran’s name. The issue was whether Betway was right to withhold winnings due to breaches of terms and conditions, requiring players to use their own payment methods and prohibiting multiple account registrations.
Betway’s fraud team lead, Carla Tarrin Paulse, testified that ReeganR was linked to three other accounts, including Reegan1982 and ut1627, both self-excluded in April 2021. The account shared the same mobile, bank details, and password.
The court learned Tharmalingam withdrew EUR 3,124 ($3,360) without issue in May 2021, but later withdrawal requests of EUR 30,000 ($32,300) led to a risk review. During cross-examination, he admitted he never read Betway’s terms but clicked accept when opening his account.
The court decided the operator was within rights confiscating the winnings, refunding EUR 18,721 ($20,100) in deposits as goodwill.
In the ruling on November 6, Judge Giovanni Grixti noted that Tharmalingam’s conduct violated Betway’s terms, dismissing claims that Betway should have detected earlier breaches due to the large number of players and occasional irregular activities. Judge Grixti stressed this didn’t change contractual obligations.
The court emphasized self-exclusion measures are for player protection and responsible gambling, justifying operators enforcing terms preventing circumvention.
- SCCG Management. The Gambling Industry’s Global Connector. Access Here.
- Source: SCCGManagement.com