Theophilus Morgan, the punter who won a whopping Ghc57 million after placing 220 bet slips at Safaribet has finally sued Safaribet, the betting company where he placed his bets after months of chasing them to pay him his money.
It would be recalled that sometime in November 2018, Ghbase.com published a story about a young man known as Theophilus who had won the biggest amount in the sports betting history of Ghana after all 220 slips which he placed Ghc1 each on won.
After winning such a huge amount, Safaribet has refused to pay him the amount and initially blocked his account and deleted 219 of his betting slips to clear any evidence that he’s won such an amount but after his story ended up in the media, they offered to pay him just Ghc286,000 which is a total amount of 1 slip plus bonus but on condition that he would sign a waiver.
Morgan who felt cheated then argued that he would not allow himself to be coerced to admitting that he won just one slip when in reality he won 220 slips and there is glaring evidence to prove that he won such an amount.
He petitioned the gaming commission back in December 2018 to intervene since they are the body that regulates betting companies in Ghana and although the gaming commission wrote several letters to Safaribet instructing them to release the winnings of the first slip which is not in contention without forcing Morgan to sign any waiver, Safaribet refused to pay heed to the commission.
The Gaming Commission in their letter to Safari asked them to pay the Ghc286,000 while they investigate and conclude on whether they are liable to pay the remaining winnings for the other 219 slips or not.
In March this year, Ghbase.com published another article updating the public on how stubborn the Turkish owned company has become and hours after that story went viral, we got a hint that they’ve sent the cheque of Ghc286k to the gaming commission for it to be picked up, only for us to later discover that, they lied about that.
Morgan has now taken a bold step and has finally sued the company through his lawyers, Gaisie Zwennes Hughes & Co in the law court so he can retrieve the amount he legitimately won from the company.
He’s also demanding for all interests accrued on the Ghc57 million over the last 4 months plus damages.
Ghbase.com has also learned that he also sued the Gaming Commission for being too ‘soft’ on Safaribet as they have a responsibility to protect customers of betting companies since they give them the license to operate in the country.
We at Ghbase.com are however shocked at the magnitude of the greed of the owners of Safaribet considering all of the profit they’ve made in Ghana over the years.
In an article published on hurriyetdailynews.com the owner of Safaribet, Halit Karabaşoğlu, a Turkish stated that the company recorded a revenue of 35 million euros in Ghana in 2016 and that they were aiming for 55 million euros in 2017.
“We are now in 200 spots in 10 states and 80 cities. We have created 2,000 jobs and we are expecting a 35 million euros in revenue this year. We are aiming for 55 million euros in revenue in 2017 and another 100 million in 2018. We will be in 300 spots in 2017 and reach 4,000 employees. We will open to Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. If we succeed, we will reach an employment of 10,000 in 2018,” Karabaşoğlu said.
So it’s not the case that Safaribet does not have the money but a case of greed and selfishness and that is gradually collapsing the company as most of their stores across the country has been shut down and several workers laid off.
Hearing for Morgan’s case will commence on Tuesday, 16th April 2019. We will follow this story and update you on whatever happens.
post credit: ghbase.com