The Dutch gambling regulator, the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has fined EOD Code €37 million for offering online gambling in the Netherlands without a license. EOD Code runs Instant Casino.
This is the largest fine the KSA has issued for illegal gambling so far, higher than the €24.8 million fine Novatech received in March.
EOD Code kept operating after an earlier penalty payment order for the same breach. KSA investigators were able to play on several of its websites from the Netherlands, with no geo-block in place. The probe began with Instant Casino and later expanded to SkyHills, SambaSlots and Slot Monster.
According to the regulator, the case involved “multiple aggravating circumstances”, among them missing age checks and the acceptance of cryptocurrency payments.
The KSA based the amount on an estimate of what EOD Code earned from Dutch customers’ stakes, since standard fine levels would have fallen short of that revenue. The authority can take this route when regular penalties are out of proportion to what an operator makes from an illegal offering.
The decision forms part of a wider effort against unlicensed operators. Earlier in October, KSA chair Michel Groothuizen said the regulator “will not hesitate” to take legal action against Big Tech firms. In September he called for an international investigative service to target criminal gambling networks.
