Betclic withdraws all brands from Belgian market
French operator pulls brands out of market as authorities continue to investigate alleged Belgian activity
Betclic Everest has withdrawn its brands from the Belgian market as the country’s Public Prosecution Office (PPO) continues its criminal investigation into the operator’s alleged unlicensed activity, eGaming Review can reveal.
In February, eGR reported that Betclic could face a fine of up to 1.2m after the PPO seized around 600,000 in connection to transactions said to be made to betclic.com. The operator doesn’t hold one of the country’s 35 remote operating licences.
Betclic, which had previously been placed on the Belgian regulator’s blacklist, quickly released a statement denying any knowledge of the investigation although said it would reserve the right to comment should “any more information come to light”.
And this morning a Betclic spokesperson confirmed it had withdrawn its four brands, which includes Betclic and Bet-At-Home, from the Belgium market and therefore has no brands operational in Belgium.
The development comes amid the investigation into the operator’s Belgium activities with the PPO said to have received information from a number of financial institutions that Betclic had been in receipt of payments from customers based within the Belgian borders.
Should the PPO decide to prosecute the operator, it is also possible one or more board members held responsible for the breach of law could face a prison sentence of between six months and five years.
If prosecuted, Betclic would be the first to be hit with criminal sanctions in the country. In 2012 bwin.party was investigated in a similar case however the operator struck a deal with local casino Groupe Partouche to head-off any potential legal action.
Betclic declined to comment further.