Dutch regulatory body Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has imposed a hefty fine of €6.7m (£5.9m/$7.2m) on GoldWin Limited for illegally offering gambling services in the Netherlands. This comes in the wake of another fine of €900,000 imposed on MKC Limited for the same offense.
GoldWin, based in Malta, was found to be offering gambling services in the Netherlands without the necessary license, a clear violation of the Dutch Betting and Gaming Act (WOK). KSA launched an investigation into GoldWin after discovering that Dutch residents were able to gamble on the website Westcasino.com, which is operated by GoldWin.
Data revealed that Westcasino.com received over 843,000 visitors from the Netherlands in 2022. Furthermore, the website was accessible to Dutch residents and offered customer support in English, which could be translated into Dutch. Despite warnings from KSA, the site remained accessible to Dutch players until specified conditions were met.
As a result, KSA issued a penalty order to GoldWin, instructing the company to cease offering gambling services to Dutch residents. The fine of €6.7m was determined based on a calculation of GoldWin’s estimated turnover from Dutch players, resulting in a penalty of 7% of the estimated Dutch turnover.
René Jansen, the chair of KSA, who is set to step down from his position in October 2024, signed the decision to impose the fine. During his tenure, Jansen oversaw the launch of regulated online gambling in the Netherlands.
This announcement follows a recent case where LCS Limited decided to appeal a €2.1m fine issued by KSA for offering unlicensed gambling services to Dutch residents through its Sonofslots.com site. The regulatory body continues to enforce strict penalties against operators found to be in violation of Dutch gambling laws.