Spelinspektionen delivers SEK 19m in fines to Betsson, Snabbare and TSG
The three operators were found to have contradicted the Gambling Act with the way they handled customer deposits.
Key points:
– Betsson, Snabbare and TSG Interactive have all been hit with administrative fines from the Swedish Gambling Authority
– The fines are SEK 6.5m, SEK 5.5m and SEK 7m respectively
– Failures include not checking if customer funds come from legitimate sources, customer negligence and potential failures with anti-money laundering policies
The Spelinspektionen (Swedish Gambling Authority) has given out SEK 19m ($2m) in total administrative fines to Betsson, Snabbare and TSG Interactive.
Betsson Nordic has received an administrative fine of SEK 6.5m; Snabbare with SEK 5.5m; and TSG Interactive has the largest administrative fine with SEK 7m.
All three companies have also been handed an official warning for their failures in anti-money laundering policies.
The Spelinspektionen noted that none of the companies had been collecting enough information on where customer money came from, whether it was from legitimate means or if there was a risk of money laundering.
Betsson
One customer at Betsson was aged 20 and deposited SEK 133,584 in the space of a month over 181 occasions. As Betsson considered any deposits to be previous winnings, the customer’s risk level was set to low.
Another customer, aged 23, has deposited SEK 271,699 within the space of four months. A month in, Betsson removed a review flag from the profile ‘to avoid disturbing the customer.’
Customer Five deposited SEK 491,950 between September and December 2023, and despite their annual income being set at SEK 310,000, Betsson rationalised the deposits as being from previous winnings.
Good to know: As the violations took place before the new amendments to the Gambling Act, the sanction fees for all three companies are set at a maximum amount of €1m ($1.14m)
It has been a busy time of year for the regulator, as the Swedish Gambling Authority recently banned three more operators for illegal gambling practices.
Snabbare
Customer One deposited SEK 3.24m between 20 January and 30 August 2023 over 267 occasions. By the time they had deposited SEK 1.5m, six alarms had been generated and subsequently dismissed as Snabbare noted the customer “had been in a winning position.” The operator only initiated Enhanced Due Diligence Measures in March and found the annual income to be SEK 571,000.
Customer Two deposited SEK 3.04m within a year after previously being self-excluded. Alarms were generated, but no measures were taken.
Customer five had deposited SEK 1.28m before Snabbare conducted an income check, found they were on SEK 308,700 a year and were currently self-excluded through Spelpaus. Further deposits were still made after this discovery.
TSG Interactive
There were many times when the system at TSG Interactive did not generate alerts for player accounts at all – nor did the operator undertake any enhanced customer due diligence measures.
Some customers were found to be depositing using multiple credit cards and were allowed to continue playing for several months without providing any customer details.
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