Antonio Abdilla Zerafa appointed Head of Financial Crime Compliance at MGA

Antonio Abdilla Zerafa, long-standing employee at the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), has been promoted to Head of Financial Crime Compliance.

Mr Abdilla Zerafa joined the MGA as an Enforcement Directorate Intern back in 2015. Over the next six-and-a-half years, he consistently worked his way up, having been promoted to Administrator, Officer, Senior Executive, Manager, and most recently, Head of Financial Crime Compliance.

The aforementioned department encompasses both the anti-money laundering and sports betting integrity units.

Taking to social media earlier this month, Mr Abdilla Zerafa noted that, under his management, the sports betting integrity department received more than 300 suspicious betting reports from across the Maltese betting sector throughout 2021.

That same year, the sports betting integrity department also set up increased monitoring mechanisms during major sports events, continued to sign data sharing agreements with stakeholders in the sports sector, and worked with the UNODC to review chapter from their recently published ‘Global Report on Corruption in Sport.’

The MGA aims to regulate the various sectors of the gaming industry that full under its wing by ensuring gaming is fair and transparent to the players whilst preventing crime, corruption, and money laundering and protecting minor and vulnerable players.