The Swedish Supreme Administrative Court affirmed the sanctions imposed by the Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA) against Kindred Group, ComeOn Group, and Mr Green.
The court denied the corporations’ efforts to appeal previous regulatory decisions, bringing an end to a long-running dispute involving Kindred Group’s subsidiary, Spooniker.
That penalty began in 2020, when the SGA assessed an initial sentence of SEK100 million (€8.7 million) after deciding that promotions made to clients in March 2019 breached the Swedish Gambling Act.
Under Swedish law, operators can only give bonuses to customers on their first sign-up.
Kindred contended that the additional promotions provided to clients were not bonuses, but rather “in-game mechanics” with no financial incentives.
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The Administrative Court in Jönköping later decreased the fine to SEK50 million, and the Court of Appeal cut it further to SEK30 million.
Despite Kindred’s efforts to invalidate the punishment totally, the Supreme Administrative Court denied leave to appeal, resulting in the SEK30 million fine.
ComeOn Group penalties confirmed
Meanwhile, ComeOn Group‘s four brands—ComeOn Sweden, Hajper, Casinostugan, and Snabbare—faced identical regulatory fines.
In 2021, the SGA imposed a combined penalty of SEK165 million for unlawful bonuses and breaches of the firm’s duty of care.
The Court of Appeal had earlier reduced the penalties: ComeOn Sweden’s punishment was cut from SEK35 million to SEK13 million, Casinostugan’s from SEK25 million to SEK8 million, Snabbare’s from SEK65 million to SEK24 million, and Hajper’s from SEK40 million to SEK14 million.
However, ComeOn Group, like Kindred, sought more relief, but the Supreme Court rejected its appeals, rendering the lower penalty official.
Mr Green’s appeal was dismissed.
Mr Green also failed to reverse a penalty imposed in 2021 for AML violations and duty of care deficiencies.
The SGA first imposed a penalty of SEK31.5 million on the operator, but the Court of Appeal lowered it to SEK12 million for duty of care violations and SEK1.5 million for AML inadequacies.
The Supreme Administrative Court’s rejection to consider the case has made these sanctions final.
Cosmogames banned from the Swedish market.
In other news, the SGA has prohibited Cosmogames from functioning in Sweden due to a lack of a legal licensing.
The regulator discovered that the company was providing online gambling services via its Spinarium.com website and linked domains, which included Spinarium3.com, Spinarium4.com, Spinarium5.com, and Spinarium.games.
Swedish consumers were able to visit the sites, open accounts, and conduct transactions in Swedish Krona, which violated Sweden’s severe gambling rules.
Cosmogames has been ordered to immediately suspend operations in the country.
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