Key points:
- Videoslots was found guilty of money-laundering regulation breaches but avoided the higher penalty due to insufficient evidence of systematic violations
- The Swedish Administrative Court reduced the penalty fee from SEK 9m to SEK 4m after an appeal
- The Court confirmed serious violations while rejecting systematic misconduct claim
The Swedish Administrative Court has issued a ruling against Videoslots, confirming breaches of the country’s Money Laundering Regulations.
The violations involved inadequate customer due diligence and failures to properly retain documents and information, which led to intervention by the Swedish Gambling Authority.
Originally, the Gambling Inspectorate had imposed a warning and a penalty fee of SEK 9m ($829,000) on Videoslots. However, following an appeal, the court reduced the penalty fee to SEK 4m.
While the court agreed with the Inspectorate’s findings that the breaches were serious, it determined there was insufficient evidence to categorise them as systematic or warrant the higher fee.
The court’s decision acknowledges the validity of the Gambling Inspectorate’s intervention but emphasises proportionality in the final penalty. It stated that the violations, though significant, did not justify the upper-tier fine originally imposed.
This ruling comes as part of ongoing efforts by Swedish authorities to ensure compliance with regulations aimed at preventing money laundering and the financing of terrorism within the gambling sector.
Earlier this year, for example, the Swedish Gambling Authority announced it has intensified its efforts against illegal online gambling.
Central to this commitment is the development of a situational analysis of illegal online gambling in Sweden. This analysis, set to be completed by January 2025, hopes to provide a detailed overview of the current landscape, including the identification of key actors and methods used to circumvent existing legislation.
