Isle of Man Revokes Supplier’s License over Stolen Data Incident

The Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission announced that it has revoked the license of Metagrow Solutions over its director’s links with cybercrime. Originally suspended on November 12, the license was then officially canceled on December 6.

Metagrow’s Director Was a Part of Dealings with Stolen Data

Metagrow Solutions is an online gaming software company in Southeast Asia. It was officially licensed on March 2, 2023, allowing it to operate under the GSC framework. However, because of the company’s links to cybercrime, the regulator opted to suspend its license a month ago.

The license was suspended shortly after the sentencing of its director, Seow Gim Shen. The Malaysian-born executive pleaded guilty to participating in an operation that attempted to purchase the personal information of almost 10,000 people.

The data in question, authorities understood, came from an online gambling website owned by a person called Sun Jiao. The prosecution believed that the man in question was involved in a Singapore-based Chinese cybercrime group operating on a global scale.

Seow became acquainted with Sun in 2019 thanks to Kong Chien Hoi who, alongside Seow, was a shareholder in the Malaysian insurance tech company Rexit. The three men then created a chat called Malaysian Data where they would negotiate the sale of the stolen information. Sun allegedly also had access data to Thai customers.

Because of his association with the group and his attempt to illegally purchase the private information of thousands of people, the Metagrow director was handed a 14-week sentence. This followed the earlier arrest of Sun,

The Isle of Man Wanted to Maintain the Jurisdiction’s Image

In its official statement, the Isle of Man GSC said that the commission has determined that it is in the public’s best interest and furtherance of the commission’s regulatory objectives to cancel Metagrow’s license.

The regulator explained that it was “no longer satisfied that Metagrow was under the control of a person of integrity.” As a result, not suspending the license could have potentially undermined the reputation of the island as a trustworthy licensing jurisdiction.

In a statement, a GSC representative said:

There are other aspects of the Commission’s investigation into Metagrow that remain ongoing, and which are subject to due process. We anticipate making a further, more detailed public statement once that investigation has concluded

GSC representative

In other news, the GSC recently responded to a UN report that accused it of relaxed licensing practices.