Dutch regulator fines Curaçao-based operator €600k over unlicensed gambling
Virtual Coin Gaming NV becomes first operator sanctioned by KSA in 2021
The Dutch Gambling Authority (KSA) has fined Virtual Coin Gaming NV a total of €600,000 (£540,000) after investigators found the firm was offering online gambling to Dutch players without a licence.
The KSA issued a fine of €500,000 directly to Virtual Coin Gaming, which is based in the Dutch Caribbean gambling hub of Curaçao, as well as a further €100,000 fine against another individual connected with the business.
KSA investigators discovered the firm was offering gambling to Dutch players on the websites www.futgalaxy.nl and then via nl.futgamer.com for an eight-month period between February and October 2018.
The sites offer consumers the chance to buy FIFA Ultimate Team currency in exchange for real money and this latest ruling reflects the KSA’s tough stance on loot boxes in video games.
The operator’s terms and conditions were also found to have shifted the onus onto the player to determine whether they would be allowed to use the site from their jurisdiction, instead of directly blocking access to Dutch players.
In addition, the websites involved used the Dutch language, operated with a .nl. web extension, and used the iDEAL payment method, all of which are breaches which can be investigated under the KSA’s prioritisation criteria.
The criteria allows the regulator to investigate online gambling operators that might not be directly domiciled in the Netherlands, if one of these individual instances is identified.
KSA has said the fine was increased beyond normal levels after two instances of minors gambling via the site were reported, despite the operator purporting to have age-gating protocols in place.
However, deeper investigation by the KSA found that no such age restriction was in place.
The firm was also found to have published four YouTube videos depicting underage individuals using the site to buy virtual coins to purchase loot boxes on the FIFA 19 video game.
The KSA said it deemed the higher fine “appropriate” given the circumstances and the nature of the violations identified.
The long-awaited Dutch online gambling market is set to launch later this year following delays in the passage of legislation and the wider impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the process.