CAN’T-Bet: Canbet Freezes $300k: Punters Issue Death Threats, File Lawsuits

Once among the most prestigious Australian online bookmakers, Canbet is now finding itself mired in scandal after freezing approximately $300,000 in player funds.

The reason: Financial restructuring, a gentle way of saying the company is having financial problems.

Unfortunately, those efforts apparently have failed following a pullout by investor, Indian publicly-listed firm Delta, which had initially offered refinancing assistance in order to pay off mounting debts. 

In a letter sent to customers on Wednesday, the directors of the UK licensed gambling operator apologised for failing to meet the previous payment promise for the end of January but pledged to sell assets to recoup funds and pay clients’ outstanding account balances, as reported by the Herald Sun.

Meanwhile, affected customers have threatened legal action against Canbet and its Australian-based directors Peter Lord and Graeme White.  Some have gone as far as to threaten their lives.

Canbet’s financial issues are a black eye to the United Kingdom’s mostly unblemished licensing authority.  Canbet was granted a license in the UK.

Canbet stopped taking bets last month, blaming an IT malfunction for short-term cash flow problem as “the bonuses being offered outweighed deposits”.

The company’s financial woes came to light via the SportsBookReview.com website last October.

At that time, Canbet officials released the following statement:

"As you have previously reported, the iGAS Group tookover the license of Canbet in 2012 and since that time, we have worked hard in revamping the brand and re-engaging with many of Canbet's former customers. This has also coincided with many numerous IT development changes and updates, and will soon see the launch of a completely reinvigerated Canbet Sportsbook. As we have reported to our customers, we have had an issue with our payment processing platform which has resulted in some cases, unusual long delays in acceptance of their deposits or remittance of their withdrawals," wrote the Director.

"Rest assured, we are working diligently to resolve this problem as quickly as possible. You will find that many of our customers have been paid and those that haven't are in the process. We also intend to compensate them for any inconvenience that they have encountered during this time."

Canbet was one of the first online sportsbooks to come online in the late 1990’s, gaining a solid foothold in the US market place before eventually retreating in 2006.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com