Dutch want help from Curacao against illegal online casinos
WILLEMSTAD — The enforcement department of the Dutch Gambling Authority (KSA) has reached out to the Gaming Control Board in Curacao for help in the battle against online casino operators that continue to violate the Dutch Betting and Gaming Act.
KSA has investigated several web sites that illegally provide online games of chance in the Netherlands. “Several of these illegal operators are licensed in Curacao,” Ella Seijsener, the head of the enforcement department writes in a letter to Eduardo Vliegen at the Gaming Control Board in Curacao.
The letter states that three operators have ceased their illegal operation in the Netherlands, while four others are still in business. The online casinos that stopped offering games on the Dutch market are casinointens.com (Tinietech Holding), bc.game (Blockdance) and gamdom.com (Smein Hosting); the four that are still violating Dutch law are luckywins.io (Luckywins), casinosky.com (Sarah Eternal S.R.L.), Lala.bet (Casbit Group) and howl.gg (Fenrir Entertainment).
All these operators were or are not licensed for providing games of chance in the Netherlands, Seijsener wrote. KSA ordered them to stop or face the consequences.
“We kindly request you to address this matter with the involved companies so that ongoing violations can be stopped and future violations can be prevented,” the letter states.
Operators that continue their illegal practices risk a fine from €600,000 ($636,000) up to 10 percent of their global revenue.
The letter shows that the illegal casino operators are not impressed by the fines issued by the KSA. Seijsener mentions five in Curacao licensed companies that have failed to pay their fines. The first recipient of a fine was Globalstars in 2013; nine years later the fine is still outstanding. The defaulting companies are: Globalstars (€100,000), Bluemay Enterprise (€130,000 and €240,000), CyberRock Entertainment (€175,000), Virtual Coin Gaming (€500,000) and Equinox Dynamic (€900,000). Altogether these companies owe €2,054,000 or more than $2.1 million in outstanding fines.
