As much as we would all love to see poker on the list of sports or logic games, unfortunately it is still considered a gambling game. Casinos and various gambling operators, whether live or online, love to circumvent various regulations, rules and laws in every possible way, and then are surprised when they receive a huge fine from the state in question.
And that is exactly what we are going to look at today, and we are going to look at the whole issue on a global scale. So we are not going to focus on one particular country, but we are going to look at who and how much has been paid in fines globally in recent months.
Fines issued in 2023
Before we get into the list of fines for 2024, let's stop for a moment in 2023, where the authorities have handed out fines to gambling companies worth up to almost €415 million globally. If you thought that only gambling companies were getting fined, you'd be wrong. In December 2023, for example, Meta (Facebook) was fined almost €6 million by the Italian regulator for media and communications (AGCOM). Meta was fined for violating the country's ban on illegal gambling ads.
As far as Europe is concerned, the most violating gambling ragulation companies are in the Netherlands. There, in fact, several multi-million dollar fines have been handed out in the past year. However, the largest fine was imposed in Australia, and it amounted to €275 million. Crown Resorts was fined by the Australian Transaction Governance and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) for breaching anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism rules. However, Crown Resorts received another fine of €12.5 million in 2023, which was received from the Victoria Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) for tax evasion.
In 2023, fines in the gambling industry are up 42.3 per cent from 2022.
What did the first half of 2024 bring?
When we compare the data for the first half of 2024 with the first half of 2023, we find that fines rose by 12.1 per cent in that year. Currently, regulators have issued fines worth almost €80 million globally. Australia's SkyCity Adelaide Pty Ltd has received the largest fine so far this year from the Australian Transaction Governance and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC). This was for €41.5 million, and was for breaches of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act.
A total of 21 fines have already been issued and the largest amounts have been issued in Australia. In second place is the Netherlands with fines of €20 million, where the majority of fines are for operating illegal or unlicensed gambling sites, whether live or online.
The list of those fined included companies such as MGM Resorts. MGM was fined by the US Department of Justice for its role in facilitating betting on illegal sports. The amount of the fine was $7.5 million, which translates to about 6.9 million euros.
However, Elon Musk's company X Corp (formerly Twitter) also escaped a fine, receiving a €1.35 million fine from the Italian regulator for media and communications (AGCOM) for illegal gambling advertisements.
With half of 2024 still to come, it remains to be seen how many fines will be handed out and in what amount, and whether this year will surpass 2023. However, from the upward annual trend, it seems that gambling companies are not at all bothered by the fines and continue their illegal activities even after they have been handed out.
Source - gamblingindustrynews, reuters, crownmelbourne.com.au, mgmresorts, meta, x, sbcamericas.com
