When we last left PlayUp about a week ago, the troubled sportsbook announced July 13 it was temporarily shutting down services in New Jersey and Colorado, thus ending operations in the U.S.
Of course PlayUp made its pronouncement a day after the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) revoked the company’s license to accept bets in the Garden State.
DGE Director David Rebuck sent a letter to then-listed PlayUp CFO Glenn MacPherson on June 29 requesting detained financials about the New Jersey venture.
In particular, the DGE asked for by July 6:
- Employee withholding tax
- Bank statements between January and June 2023
- Payroll registers for the same period
The information was not received by then, and CEO Daniel Simic said McPherson no longer worked under that title. Simic had until July 14 to gather the paperwork or face consequences.
The DGE’s order read: “This can lead to disciplinary action, up to and including revocation of your transactional waiver and denial of your license.”
Simic complied on July 17. Except for bank statements and no info from February and June, according to PlayUSA.
In a statement DGE stated it is also aware of PlayUp’s other non-compliance issues:
- PlayUp’s outstanding invoices owed to the DGE;
- PlayUp’s decreasing its employee headcount in New Jersey. There is currently no “head of the New Jersey Office” physically located in Jersey, with Simic advising serving in that role while outside the state. The chief operating officer, head of product, head of sportsbook and head of compliance are also no longer employed by PlayUp; and
- PlayUp claims to be investigating a potential fraud charge for a player that requested a withdrawal in March but hasn’t notified the DGE and can’t explain the delay in finalizing the investigation.
The statement also noted that PlayUp could reapply for a sports betting license in the future. In that case, the company would have to completely resubmit its entire platform to become active in the state again.
PlayUp did notify the Colorado Division of Gaming (CDG) that it plans to stop accepting bets. They also requested to place their licensed PlayUp sportsbook application and website platforms “into a maintenance mode.”
For now, PlayUp will no longer take bets or deposits from players residing in Colorado. However, players can still withdraw funds from their accounts.
