The Dutch gambling authority has issued three fines that total over €2m after a pair of companies were discovered to be offering natives the opportunity to participate in games of chance without the required licence. A third was found to not be integrated with the Cruks self-exclusion register.
The former saw Equinox Dynamic from Curaçao and Slovakia’s Domiseda and Partners each penalised €900,000 after casino games were offered via the Orient Xpress Casino. An investigation, said the Kansspelautoriteit, discovered that both acted as providers.
Furthermore, the Ksa noted aggravating circumstances that included a lack of age verification. Enforcing bans such as this was also cited as a priority by the regulator.
René Jansen, Chair of the Ksa, said: “The objective is to create a safe environment for people who want to gamble online. This includes taking strict action against illegal providers.”
Furthermore, the Ksa has also imposed a fine of €350,000 on licensed online gaming provider Bingoal after it was found that “for a number of days in June 2022” players were permitted to access the site without consulting Cruks.
“Legal providers of high-risk games of chance must be connected to Cruks,” the Ksa explained. “This lists players who, from the point of view of protection against gambling addiction, do not have access to high-risk games of chance.
“To consult Cruks, a valid PKI certificate is required that guarantees secure information exchange. Bingoal’s certificate had expired.
“As a result, Bingoal could not check players for a registration as required by law, but it still allowed players to participate in high-risk games of chance.”
It was added by the authority that it took Bingoal around three days to gain a new PKI certificate and regain access to Cruks.
“Cruks is an important tool to combat gambling addiction and to protect players against the undesirable effects of gambling,” it was added.
