Swedish gambling regulator Spelinspektionen made it clear that it would work diligently to prevent gaming operators from breaking, or even bending, the rules. It has already fined a number of companies, including Betway and Mandalorian Technologies, for violating its rules on bonus offers and self-exclusion procedures, and is at it once again. This time, two more operators have been tagged by the regulator for trying to bypass the bonus restrictions. Making matters worse, the entities had already been warned for violating other rules.
According to Swedish gambling law, licensed gambling operators can offer only one-time bonuses to new customers. Other types of bonuses and incentives are not allowed. Either Genesis Global Limited and AG Communications Ltd. missed the memo or simply chose to ignore it. They are now on the hook for around $232,000 in fines.
Genesis operates Vegas Hero and Slot online casinos and has been ordered to pay around $180,000 for offering bonuses inconsistent with Sweden’s gambling laws. AG Communications, which operates Casino Luck and Karamba, is going to have to pull out the wallet and fork over $52,722.
Both of the companies have previously been fined by Spelinspektionen for not adhering to the legal gambling framework. Genesis paid $430,000 in March when it was determined that the company had not adequately linked its operations to the country’s self-exclusion database, Spelpaus.se. AG was fined for the same thing last month and had to pay $321,000.
When Betway and Mandalorian – operators of noaccountcasino.com and prankcasino.com, respectively – were penalized over bonus violations last month, they had to pay a total of around $1.45 million. At least there’s a bright side to the casinos’ repeated ignorance of Swedish laws – the country is picking up some additional revenue it hadn’t anticipated.
Sweden opened up its gambling industry on January 1 of this year, the same day that it also introduced the self-exclusion program and many of its regulations regarding bonuses and incentives. Six months into the action and operators should have had more than enough time to familiarize themselves with the rules. It’s because of a blatant disregard – and, ultimately, lack of respect – for the rules that countries decide to crack down on gambling and treat it like a malignant cancer.
