Lyca Mobile is a British mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) operating in 23 countries. The chairman is Subaskaran Allirajah and the CEO is Richard Schafer. The company sells international pay-as-you-go SIMs. As an MVNO, Lyca Mobile leases radio frequencies from mobile phone network operators and forms partnerships with the operators in each country it serves. Lyca Mobile has also developed distinct business structures such as MVNA aggregator arrangements in various countries.
In 2016, nearly twenty Lyca Mobile employees were arrested in France, with about half of them charged with money laundering.[2][3] As of 2020, Lyca Mobile is involved in three major tax disputes with HM Revenue and Customs in the UK.[4] The previous CEO, Chris Tooley, was given a suspended prison sentence in 2023 for his involvement in an "elaborate money laundering system" in France.
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Lyca Mobile has local national private companies branded under licence as Lyca Mobile and operating exclusively in the particular country as either a MVNO provider or as the principal wholesaler of Lyca Mobile-branded products.[citation needed]
In the United States, the Better Business Bureau stated in July 2015 that due to Lycamobile's failure to respond to 28 of 47 complaints, Lycamobile's rating with the BBB is an F (on a scale of A+ to F).[31]
GT Mobile (also known as "Gnanam Telecom") is a MNVO sub-brand of Lycamobile that operates in Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, Spain, Italy, France, Belgium and Switzerland (the United Kingdom arm has been merged in Lycamobile).[32] The brand, like its parent, is aimed at those who wish to make national and international phone calls on a pay-as-you-go basis. The GT Mobile brand offers alternative pricing structures and packages focusing more on national bundles from the Lycamobile brand.[citation needed]
Lycatel is focused on the sale of calling cards to wholesalers to then sell on to the public. Lycatel offers online sales of calling cards and direct customer sales through the Lycateleshop.[citation needed] The Lycatel brand is not itself used as a calling card brand name, but acts as a parent brand name used on various branded calling cards. The most popular brands of Lycatel calling cards include Africa Tel, Cobra, Eurocity, One+One, Spicy Tel, Supertel, Unitel, Viper and World Call. Each calling card brand features different calling rates to different destinations with some being more suited to single use (known in the calling card industry as 'throw-away cards'). Others are more suited to occasional use but will feature a higher standard rate for each call placed. Whilst there is a fair level of confusion between pricing, Lycatel's underlying charges are significantly less than connecting international calls in a conventional sense.[citation needed]
The Lycatel (or as previously used "Lyca Tel") brand has been in existence since 2001 although its early ownership and operational structure were significantly distinct in the early 2000s from the present day. The present-day Lycatel brand owners and licensees form a larger organisation although the operational focus of Lycatel remains the sale of a variety of differently branded calling cards to wholesalers. Wholesalers in turn sell onto retailers who then sell primarily to expatriate customers who want to make low-cost international calls.[citation needed]
Lycatel primarily operates via its own national reselling companies or through its service providers in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, India (an outsourcing operation), Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States and Tunisia.[citation needed]
Lycatel currently holds a wider country-by-country spread than the Lycamobile operations, although Lycamobile has begun operations in countries where Lycatel does not currently have a presence, such as Poland. Although the calling card market is generally considered to be in decline with the arrival of mobile telephony, Lycatel as a whole remains a dominant and significant competitor in the calling card market in Europe.[citation needed]
The Lycatalk brand is also part of the Lyca family of brands and operates in the same jurisdictions as the calling card brands with the exception of Portugal. Lycatalk has less prominence than the Lycatel and Lycamobile brands but has a simply structured product with no set up fees or other maintenance charges. Lycatalk tariff rates are more settled and rarely vary wildly, unlike more aggressively price structured products such as calling cards.
Lycachat is a voice over IP (voIP) offering available to consumers. Lycachat benefits from the Lycamobile infrastructure and should be able to provide connection to traditional telephone networks at virtually no cost to the consumer.
Aside from telecommunications, there are a variety of Lyca-branded business ventures. Services range from financial products and insurance services, as well as ventures into logistics and even an airline business Lyca Airways, based in West Africa. Ventures of note include the following:
Launched in 2013, Lyca Radio was born after the acquisition by Lyca of radio frequencies previously operated by Sunrise Radio. Lyca offers two stations, Lyca Radio and Lyca Gold. Both stations have retained the previous format of Sunrise Radio, targeting South Asian communities. This is also in part because of regulatory requirements imposed by Ofcom.
On 19 May 2023 Lyca Radio was found to be in breach of Ofcom regulations as it failed to deliver local news. According to Lyca, this was due to the departure of its local news journalist and that it had been "very hard to fill the role."[34]
LycaFly is the travel arm of the Lyca business, and specialises in offering cheap flights and holidays to predominantly Asian destinations such as India and Sri Lanka as well Nigeria. LycaFly was launched in 2007 as part of an acquisition of an existing travel agency business. The UK LycaFly business, U Can Fly Limited, is owned by Pettigo Comrcio Internacional, Limitada, a Portuguese holding company located in Madeira, Portugal. Pettigo Comrcio Internacional, Limitada also owns the LycaFly brand name. At present LycaFly operates only in the UK.
Lyca TV is an online over-the-top (OTT) ethnic entertainment provider, currently available in 20 countries and in 09 languages. The service, launched in 2015, is mainly targeted at major expat communities spread across the world.[37][38][39]
Lycalotto, launched in March 2017, is a lottery syndicate platform available in the UK and Ireland. Lycalotto offers access to lottery draws from around the world, including those not normally accessible in the region such as the US Powerball.[40]
The French court ruling was released on 26 October 2023, stating that the company had "knowingly participated in an elaborate money laundering system". The "opaque" system involved the use of shell companies and was also used by businesses who needed cash to illegally pay employees. [43][44]
According to the statement released by Okokrim, the convicts established a system in their work for Lycamobile, where they arranged for retailers of calling cards to be able to buy these from Lycatel and Lycamobile in cash, without being invoiced. The invoices were instead issued to a network of shell companies. In this way, they contributed to the fact that the dealers failed to disclose commission income of a total of NOK 57.3 million to the tax authorities.
In May 2023, the Lyca Productions offices were raided by the Indian Enforcement Directorate. The raid resulted in the discovery of "incriminating" evidence reflecting loans and investments made without any due diligence or rationale into the Kallal Group by Pettigo Commercio Internacional LDA, a Portuguese subsidiary of Lycamobile. The investigation is ongoing but the Enforcement Directorate provisionally attached Rs70 Crore, with the total proceeds from crime estimated at Rs300 Crore.[46][47]
In addition to its tax affairs and money laundering investigations, Lycamobile has been the subject of multiple regulatory actions. These primarily relate to failures to collect, verify, or provide customer identity information to the regulatory authorities. This behaviour is widespread across the group with regulators taking similar action against the group in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Norway and Spain. These regulatory actions have resulted in significant financial penalties. [53][54][55]
The corporate structure of the group came under scrutiny in April 2017 when KPMG resigned as auditors for Lycamobile UK Limited, stating that they had difficulties in obtaining sufficient audit evidence at this company and for related audits of its related UK companies as a result of the governance structure and oversight of the companies' system of internal control over financial reporting.[56]
The most recent audited report[57] (2022 accounts have not been released despite being over 12 months overdue) published on the Companies House website states that the company is in dispute with HM Revenue and Customs, in relation to treatment of VAT on certain classes of transactions. A provision has been recorded of 105.5m to reflect the Company's current best estimate of the potential exposure as at 31 December 2021, including penalties and interest. The auditor, PKF Littlejohn LLP, qualifies their audit opinion by stating that they have been unable to obtain sufficient audit evidence over the recoverability of a balance of 168,839,000 due from related parties (entities under common control) and balance of 18,083,000 due from directors and parties associated with directors, which is included in debtors on the statement of financial position as at 31 December 2021.
Whilst the Group CEO is listed as Richard Schafer, the most recent annual report published by Companies House for the year ended 31 December 2021 for Lycamobile UK Limited states that "The majority of the cash flows associated with investing and financing activities are ultimately either discretionary and/or with related parties under the control of Mr A Subaskaran". Mr Subaskaran is reflected as the only person with significant control over Lycamobile UK Limited as well as WWW Holding Company, the holding company of Lycatel Services which "provides administrative support services to its related parties within the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, USA and Canada. The Company also carries out its airtime trading activities primarily within the United Kingdom, providing low-cost international calls which are marketed to residents originally from other countries through national advertising campaigns". 152ee80cbc
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