European gambling group linked to unlicensed online casinos in the UK
Credit: Joanna Poupaki/Spoovio
Upgaming is a firm fixture on the gambling industry's global event circuit, but the software provider is also tied to a number of websites that lack legal licences in the EU and UK, Investigate Europe and the Guardian can reveal.
A prominent European gambling software company has previously undisclosed links to a network of illicit online casinos, including some blacklisted by national authorities.
Little-known outside of industry circles, Upgaming is a firm fixture at global gambling events, winning several awards for its casino software and regularly features in trade magazines.
However, a new investigation by Investigate Europe and the Guardian can reveal the Swiss-Georgian firm is also connected to at least eight websites which target European customers without legal licences.
Several of the websites appear to have been registered directly by Upgaming or its management, and corporate documents indicate the company has further ties to the apparent network.
Many of the casinos were explicitly advertised to vulnerable gamblers via online ads, while some customers have been left unable to redeem thousands from their accounts.
The websites, including Velobet, Mystake and Goldenbet, collectively averaged 2.3 million unique monthly visitors from the UK between November 2025 and January 2026, website traffic data from Similarweb shows. They also attract hundreds of thousands of visitors in France and Germany.
Little-known outside of industry circles, Upgaming is a firm fixture at global gambling events, winning several awards for its casino software and regularly features in trade magazines.
However, a new investigation by Investigate Europe and the Guardian can reveal the Swiss-Georgian firm is also connected to at least eight websites which target European customers without legal licences.
Several of the websites appear to have been registered directly by Upgaming or its management, and corporate documents indicate the company has further ties to the apparent network.
Many of the casinos were explicitly advertised to vulnerable gamblers via online ads, while some customers have been left unable to redeem thousands from their accounts.
The websites, including Velobet, Mystake and Goldenbet, collectively averaged 2.3 million unique monthly visitors from the UK between November 2025 and January 2026, website traffic data from Similarweb shows. They also attract hundreds of thousands of visitors in France and Germany.
The Upgaming website promotes its software solutions for the gambling industry.
The Curaçao connection
Most of the websites are operated by a firm called Santeda International under a gambling licence from the Caribbean island of Curaçao, a haven for secretive offshore operators. Such licences are not valid in the UK or most European countries, which oblige operators to hold a domestic permit.
In an email on 17 March 2026, lawyers for Upgaming said the firm denied any wrongdoing and that Santeda was just a customer using their software. In further correspondence, dated 30 March 2026, they said: “We confirm that the partnership between our client [Upgaming] and Santeda has been terminated.” The news had been reported three days earlier, with Upgaming telling a gambling industry magazine that it took the decision owing to Santeda's “unregulated footprint in restricted jurisdictions.”
Unlicensed casinos do not have the same safeguards against addiction, scams or money laundering as legal operators. Across the European Union, illegal online gambling generated more than €80 billion in revenue in 2024, according to marketplace intelligence firm Yield Sec.
Casinos operated by Santeda and linked to Upgaming have repeatedly been sanctioned by authorities across Europe – but continue to operate.
Velobet appears on regulators' blacklists in France, Italy and Poland. Yet, its marketing material shows that the site still targets customers in Italy, France and elsewhere in Europe.
Santeda has itself been blacklisted by authorities in Greece and Sweden. However, its ties to Upgaming, which claims to employ more than 500 people with offices in Switzerland, Georgia and other European locations, have until now been kept under the radar.
Investigate Europe and the Guardian were able to connect Upgaming to Santeda and its raft of unlicensed websites after analysing website registration records and corporate documents filed in Switzerland, Curaçao, Malta, Cyprus, Georgia and Germany.
Several URLs for the casinos, including Velobet, appear to have been created directly by Upgaming or by its Georgian CEO, Tornike Tvauri, domain registration data shows
“I was hooked quickly and it was a very fast decline after that.”
— Margaret, a UK citizen, lost thousands on the Goldenbet website
UK customers targeted
Velobet and other casinos pull in huge numbers of visitors from the UK, despite not being licensed with Britain’s gambling authority, and in some cases are specifically promoted to vulnerable gamblers.
More than half a million people have signed up to the UK’s Gamstop, the national self-exclusion programme that legal bookmakers must adhere to. The scheme allows users to block their access to all regulated betting sites.
However, this investigation found that Upgaming has registered websites like “nongamstopbookies.org” in an apparent attempt to target those registered on Gamstop. The websites promote various Santeda-operated brands including Goldenbet and Mystake.
Margaret, who is in her 50s, said she signed up to Gamstop after fearing she was on a “slippery slope” towards addiction after she started gambling regularly on well-known licensed sites.
Soon though, after searching online for ways to bypass Gamstop, she found her way to Goldenbet. “I was hooked quickly and it was a very fast decline after that,” said Margaret, who works in manufacturing and lives in the UK but asked to remain anonymous.
Margaret told reporters she had deposited around £29,000 and won £15,000, of which she withdrew about £6,000. When she tried to withdraw the rest, the site “delayed and delayed”, asking for multiple verification checks that she had never been asked to provide before.
The wait proved too much for Margaret, who says she put her winnings back into the casino games and lost everything.
The UK Labour MP Alex Ballinger, said he believed such sites were “deliberately targeting vulnerable people who are trying to stop gambling”. He called on the UK Gambling Commission to take urgent action.
Lawyers for Upgaming rejected any suggestions that it “knowingly benefits from the proceeds of illegal gambling operations”. The company denied ownership of casino domain names or any promotional sites, saying that “any person could, without our client’s knowledge or consent, use their name or details.”
One of the unlicensed sites has also apparently tried to appeal to Britain's vast community of football fans by promoting seemingly fictitious partnerships.
Several articles found online falsely claim that Mystake had struck a sponsorship deal with English Premier League club Leeds United. Others stated that Mystake had signed Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho as a brand ambassador.
Mystake’s owner is presented in the articles as Andres Markou, allegedly an award-winning businessman. Yet Investigate Europe could find no other presence of him online. Images purporting to show Markou with Ronaldinho are highly likely to be AI-generated or manipulated, analysis by the Guardian and deep-fake detection platform Reality Defender assessed.
A source close to the retired footballer said the meeting never happened. Leeds United said the club does not have any partnership with Mystake casino.
Lawyers for Upgaming rejected any suggestions that it “knowingly benefits from the proceeds of illegal gambling operations”. The company denied ownership of casino domain names or any promotional sites, saying that “any person could, without our client’s knowledge or consent, use their name or details.”
Fictitious football partnerships
One of the unlicensed sites has also apparently tried to appeal to Britain's vast community of football fans by promoting seemingly fictitious partnerships.
Several articles found online falsely claim that Mystake had struck a sponsorship deal with English Premier League club Leeds United. Others stated that Mystake had signed Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho as a brand ambassador.
Mystake’s owner is presented in the articles as Andres Markou, allegedly an award-winning businessman. Yet Investigate Europe could find no other presence of him online. Images purporting to show Markou with Ronaldinho are highly likely to be AI-generated or manipulated, analysis by the Guardian and deep-fake detection platform Reality Defender assessed.
A source close to the retired footballer said the meeting never happened. Leeds United said the club does not have any partnership with Mystake casino.
The image purporting to show Ronaldinho and the owner of Mystake. Analysis suggests it is highly likely to be AI-generated or manipulated.
Mystake, Velobet, Goldenbet and the other casinos did not respond to requests for comment. Investigate Europe and The Guardian were unable to reach Santeda directly.
Upgaming denied any ownership or operational links to the eight brands. Lawyers for the company said that Upgaming’s operations were “limited to providing [business to business] services to a number of corporate clients, including Santeda.”
Yet corporate documents indicate that the relationship between Santeda and Upgaming runs deep.
Many of the sites found by this investigation to illicitly target players in the UK and Europe have been promoted via Affision, an online marketing programme.
Affision's website appears to have been registered by Tornike Tvauri, Upgaming’s CEO, in August 2023, domain registry data shows. Corporate filings show that the ultimate owner of Affision is Aleksandre Makashvili, another Georgian businessman who, along with Tvauri, has shares in an Upgaming company in Germany where the group has offices.
Corporate records for Santeda International, meanwhile, show that its original name was Onyxion. A title it shares with another gambling company: Onyxion Malta.
Onyxion Malta is owned by Tornike Tvauri. The company was fined €5m in Spain in relation to unlicensed gambling in 2023.
The fact that Santeda used to be named Onyxion does not indicate common control, lawyers for Upgaming said. “The name was available at the Malta Business Registry and so it was taken up.” Upgaming also denied owning Affision.
Upgaming denied any ownership or operational links to the eight brands. Lawyers for the company said that Upgaming’s operations were “limited to providing [business to business] services to a number of corporate clients, including Santeda.”
Yet corporate documents indicate that the relationship between Santeda and Upgaming runs deep.
Upgaming links to Santeda
Many of the sites found by this investigation to illicitly target players in the UK and Europe have been promoted via Affision, an online marketing programme.
Affision's website appears to have been registered by Tornike Tvauri, Upgaming’s CEO, in August 2023, domain registry data shows. Corporate filings show that the ultimate owner of Affision is Aleksandre Makashvili, another Georgian businessman who, along with Tvauri, has shares in an Upgaming company in Germany where the group has offices.
Corporate records for Santeda International, meanwhile, show that its original name was Onyxion. A title it shares with another gambling company: Onyxion Malta.
Onyxion Malta is owned by Tornike Tvauri. The company was fined €5m in Spain in relation to unlicensed gambling in 2023.
The fact that Santeda used to be named Onyxion does not indicate common control, lawyers for Upgaming said. “The name was available at the Malta Business Registry and so it was taken up.” Upgaming also denied owning Affision.
Mystake website is accessible in the UK despite not holding a national licence.
Investigate Europe has not seen evidence that Tvauri or Upgaming have direct ownership or control of Santeda. And while Upgaming dismissed having any ownership links to Santeda or unlicensed operations, its own software business has proved to be a lucrative one.
Upgaming’s Cypriot subsidiary reported revenue of €26 million in 2023 alone, with most of its income coming from software sales to clients.
Some of Upgaming’s profits appear to have been ploughed into real estate in Georgia, including the development of a shopping complex in the capital Tbilisi.
The company behind that project received loans totalling €6.5 million from Upgaming, according to accounts filed in Cyprus. Investors in the development include Upgaming CEO Tornike Tvauri and Aleksandre Makashvili, the businessman who owns Affision, the platform promoting Mystake, Velobet and other Santeda brands.
The money from the Upgaming enterprise may flow to Georgia but it is the UK and EU countries that are left to count the cost of financial hardship and addiction. The UK government estimates that gambling harm costs the economy between £1bn and £2bn.
However, attempts by the UK Gambling Commission to get to grips with unlicensed operators have so far proven largely unsuccessful. Out of the eight unlicensed casinos identified as linked to Upgaming, the Gambling Commission requested Google to take down five websites, according to Lumen, a database that collects requests for removal of online content. Yet, today, all are still accessible from the UK with a simple Google search.
The Commission is due to get new powers that would allow it to apply to a court to suspend a website’s domain and IP address. A spokesperson said this would include powers to “seek the blocking of IP addresses and domain names linked to illegal websites”.
Upgaming’s Cypriot subsidiary reported revenue of €26 million in 2023 alone, with most of its income coming from software sales to clients.
Upgaming profits flow back to Georgia
Some of Upgaming’s profits appear to have been ploughed into real estate in Georgia, including the development of a shopping complex in the capital Tbilisi.
The company behind that project received loans totalling €6.5 million from Upgaming, according to accounts filed in Cyprus. Investors in the development include Upgaming CEO Tornike Tvauri and Aleksandre Makashvili, the businessman who owns Affision, the platform promoting Mystake, Velobet and other Santeda brands.
The money from the Upgaming enterprise may flow to Georgia but it is the UK and EU countries that are left to count the cost of financial hardship and addiction. The UK government estimates that gambling harm costs the economy between £1bn and £2bn.
However, attempts by the UK Gambling Commission to get to grips with unlicensed operators have so far proven largely unsuccessful. Out of the eight unlicensed casinos identified as linked to Upgaming, the Gambling Commission requested Google to take down five websites, according to Lumen, a database that collects requests for removal of online content. Yet, today, all are still accessible from the UK with a simple Google search.
The Commission is due to get new powers that would allow it to apply to a court to suspend a website’s domain and IP address. A spokesperson said this would include powers to “seek the blocking of IP addresses and domain names linked to illegal websites”.
