Ksa imposes two fines, one being a record

(PRESS RELEASE) -- The Dutch Gaming Authority (Ksa) imposes a fine on illegal providers Fortaprime SRL and Novatech for illegal gambling offer. Through the websites amonbet101.com, supraplay.com, amonbet.com, bilucky.com, gxspins.com, cheeseino.com, hiddenjack.com and luckymax7.com (Fortaprime) and Qbet.com and 55Bet.com (Novatech) Dutch people could participate in games of chance. Fortaprime is fined €1,795,000, Novatech a fine of €24,846,000. Previously, both parties were already imposed a burden under penalty.

On the sites examined, Ksa employees were able to create a player account, make deposits and thus participate in illegal gambling. At that time, no technical measures were taken to prevent participation from the Netherlands. In addition, there were several aggravating abuses on the websites, such as the lack of visible age verification. Also, players had the option to pay with cryptocurrency and anonymous payment methods, facilitating money laundering.

When imposing fines, the Ksa may opt for a turnover-related amount if the standard fines do not relate to the turnover obtained from the illegal offer in terms of height. Because the Ksa estimates that both Fortaprime and Novatech have earned more from the stakes of Dutch players, a higher fine based on revenue estimate was chosen. The fine for Novatech is the highest fine the Ksa has imposed on an illegal party so far. However, the Ksa is hindered by Dutch legislation at the level of the fines. The fines are in disproportionate to the illegal profits that these companies have made.

Michel Groothuizen, chairman of the board of the Ksa:
‘We determine the penalty level on the basis of the (estimated) turnover that the illegal provider has achieved to players from the Netherlands. In doing so, we are restricted by the law that says that the fine may be a maximum of 10% of the global turnover. Novatech made hundreds of millions from its illegal offer, and that mainly did from Dutch players. A fine of 24 million sounds impressive, but without the maximum of 10%, the fine would have amounted to more than 100 million euros; an amount that would better suit this violation.’

Action against illegal offer is not only done with administrative fines, as mentioned here, but also by working intensively with third parties, such as payment service providers, hosting parties, banks and large tech companies. For the offer of Fortaprime is also advertising by Dutch influencers. Influencers who advertise illegal companies can also receive a sanction from the Ksa.