THE COLLAPSE OF VELTYCO GROUP IN THE BINARY OPTIONS AFTERMATH

The public-listed VELTYCO GROUP PLC is a sort of laundering machine for some illicit online networks. Officially, VELTYCO has presented itself as an online marketing company supporting website operators in the areas of BINARY OPTIONS, FOREX, sports betting and online lotteries with marketing services. As a matter of fact, these website operators and the VELTYCO shareholders are the very same people.

VELTYCO founder and majority shareholder Uwe LENHOFF is also the beneficial owner of VELTYCO customers such as Option888, LottoPalace, and the related ALTAIR ENTERTAINMENT, CELESTIAL TRADING or PAYIFIC. In its very substance, VELTYCO was a vehicle for redistributing and laundering customer funds from illicit businesses such as binary options or online gambling. The European Union, Israel, Canada, the United States, and many other countries banned binary options and its unregistered trading platforms. VELTYCO got hit by this and consequently seems to be on the verge of collapse.

Struggling With The Cash Flow

On 22 November 2018, the company announced that it “continues to struggle with cash collection in the online financial trading marketing vertical“. Given the ongoing issues with the reduction of this receivable balance, the Board of Veltyco will need to consider the potential impairment of the receivable balances and intangible assets attributable to this vertical. In plain English – the company has issues with its cash flow and its business. A lethal combination, isn’t it?

Of VELTYCO‘s outstanding receivable balance of €10.6 million

• €6.7 Mio is due from CELESTIAL TRADING LTD
• €2.5 Mio is due from ALTAIR ENTERTAINMENT and
• €1.4 Mio is due from SoftLotto and LOTTOPALACE.

These are all companies beneficially owned and controlled by VELTYCO founder and main shareholder Uwe LENHOFF. The German online gambling veteran LENHOFF is the beneficial owner and mastermind of the illicit business activities of these companies. According to VELTYCO’s press release, most of the receivables are overdue since months already. The question is whether LENHOFF does not want to pay or cannot pay. According to people close to VELTYCO, LENHOFF has lost interest in VELTYCO. Nothing has developed out of the ambitious plans communicated at the time of the Reverse Takeover (RTO) in 2016. On the contrary, LENHOFF has exposed his illicit business through the listed VELTYCO too much.

No Strategy, No CEO, and No Funds

In our analysis of VELTYCO‘s Annual Report 2017, we pointed out that VELTYCO, which is listed on the AIM segment of the London Stock Exchange, does not actually have its own business, but merely serves as a vicarious agent for LENHOFF and its network of illicit websites. It was incomprehensible to us that the board of a public-listed company could permit this. In fact, US-American Melissa BLAU resigned as CEO of VELTYCO on October 12, 2018, after just 6 months in office. Reasons for her sudden resignation were not given, but in view of the events now coming to light, there is no need for a rocket scientist to explain her sudden departure. Given the critical situation of the company, the question arises how much Melissa BLAU actually knew about the business of VELTYCO and its main shareholder Uwe LENHOFF at the time of her resignation.

In view of the payment defaults, the VELTYCO board is finally considering a significant impairment of its accounts receivable. The auditors of VELTYCO had already expressed their doubts about the collectibility in the annual report 2017 and thus doubts about the continued existence of VELTYCO.

The collapse of the VELTYCO Share

Since 12 November 2018, the price of the VELTYCO share has fallen from GBX 32.5 to around GBX 7. Following the announcement of VELTYCO on Nov 22, 2018, the share price lost more than 60% in some cases with low trading volumes. Actually, the VELTYCO shares have never been a liquid stock. Not even the gaming, gambling, and sports betting guys loved the company which is odd.

The VELTYCO share does indeed seem to be a zombie. With the exception of the sports betting activities around the Cologne-based Sport90, the company apparently has no plan, no strategy, and no business. Neither does it have the cash to implement a new strategy or reinvent itself after the binary options ban. A company’s own online trading brand has been announced for months. At the same time, however, VELTYCO had to admit that it would no longer have any money for marketing and would, therefore, have to make massive cost reductions. Now it turns out that the main shareholder LENHOFF does not want to or cannot pay.

Conflict of Interest and False Public Statements

Interestingly, Uwe LENHOFF is still “Head of Business Development” at VELTYCO. Are you getting the full picture now? While LENHOFF works as Head of Business Development for the company, his secretly hold companies owe VELTYCO millions. Is this full picture given in the board’s announcement of Nov 22, 2018? Certainly not. The announcement is another piece of misleading information. The question arises when the VELTYCO board finally fulfills its fiduciary obligations and starts to run the business properly.

Until now, the VELTYCO board around Gilles OHANA, Chairman, and Marcel NOORDELOOS, Chief Financial Officer, has been responsible for many false and/or misleading press releases and thus violated legal disclosure requirements. The evidently lied to the market about the actual circumstances. Ultimately, the Management Board must be held liable for this mess. VELTYCO shareholders definitely should consider to address the board and ask some critical questions.

We will continue to report.