Dutch clampdown continues with new fines

The Dutch regulator has continued its clampdown of unlicensed operators targeting customers in the country after fining the operators and trust company of online casino sites 7red.com and royaalcasino.com a total of €310,000.

Personal warnings were also addressed to a number of people found to be responsible for the sites with a number of investigations into their precise roles and functions at the companies set to continue.

The Dutch Gaming Authority began to investigate the two sites after receiving several complaints from consumers and subsequently warned them for offering Dutch-language versions of their sites.

The two casinos were also found to have advertised in Dutch on Facebook and on television channels including National Geographic, 24Kitchen and 13^th Street, however these adverts were pulled after the KSA notified the channels of their illegality.

After an investigation into the ownership of the sites, fines of €130,000 each were handed to holding companies Redcorp SA and Curacao-based Bluemay Enterprises NV, with an additional fine of €50,000 issued to UK-based entity Bluemay Enterprises.

The regulator noted the penalty given to Bluemay was the first instance a ‘trust company’ had been sanctioned and reiterated its stance that any company providing support to online gambling businesses can expect similar punishment.

“If trust companies provide services to companies that operate illegally, the trusts may also be in violation. Therefore, trust companies are warned that they are at risk if they accept betting companies as clients,” a KSA statement read.

Earlier this year casino operators Mansion and ONISAC were fined €150,000 between them for offering a Dutch language option on their websites, four months after Curacao-based Global Stars was fined €100,000.

And last month the KSA announced it was investigating two online sportsbooks suspected of targeting Dutch customers, ignoring several warnings ahead of this year’s FIFA World Cup.