Malta-headquartered gaming company fined €19.6m by Dutch gambling regulator

The Dutch gaming authority, known as Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has imposed its largest fine yet of nearly €19.7 million on Malta-headquartered Gammix Limited for providing online gaming services without the necessary license. This penalty comes as a consequence of prior sanctions against the company, including a weekly fine of €1.47 million for operating without authorization back in 2022.

Gammix-operated platforms such as betoriginal.com, cashimashi.com, goslot.com, and nordslot.com have been found to offer “illegal online games of chance” to players in the Netherlands, as stated by the KSA. Earlier, nordslot.com and another Gammix-owned site, rantcasino.com, faced incremental fines for operating without a license, with the Ksa levying a €4 million penalty at the beginning of 2023.

Gammix Limited operates under a Type 1 Gaming Services license issued by the Malta Gaming Authority

In response, the operator has strongly refuted the methodology applied when establishing the breaches, and the value of those breaches, by the KSA.

Gammix stated that the record €19.7m penalty imposed is based on “falsified data, extreme inaccuracy and highly suspect mathematics”.

In the ruling the regulator said that Gammix was adjudged to have allowed online gambling access for Dutch consumers, as well as not requiring age verification upon sign-up – something the company wholeheartedly disputes.

Gammix reports that accounts used to access its sites during the investigation were created in Luxembourg, with deposits made via credit card. Gammix added that such action violates the sites’ terms and conditions, specifically the provision of false information upon sign-up.

The operator asserts that the penalty, totalling €19,679,000, has been calculated using figures from a proprietary web-traffic aggregation service and a multiplier of €240 per click. Gammix believes this would show turnover that doesn’t exist.

Furthermore, Gammix strongly condemns the KSA’s “mystery shopper” style of investigation, which, the operator states, is an unjust basis for this record-breaking penalty.

Phil Pearson, director of Gammix Limited, has vowed to “fight on all fronts until it receives an apology and retraction”.

He said: “The KSA has imposed upon our company a penalty that is both outrageous and unsubstantiated. Now that we are able to talk openly about the case, we can confirm that we are fighting on all fronts as, to us, this is an extraordinary and unnecessarily heavy-handed action from a regulator that many already regarded as unapproachable.

“When we received the first notice of a possible penalty, we reached out to them to say we have blocks in place. We also asked for any information they had that was material to the investigation, to ensure we remained in compliance with all guidelines  – a request they appeared to ignore. Our lawyers also approached the regulator, in writing, to gain more information, but again no response was forthcoming.

“We had enabled a block on Cloudflare for any Dutch IP, we have no Dutch language or direct Dutch payment methods, and categorically do not target Dutch traffic. If affiliates list any of our brands on Dutch-facing sites, we cannot be held responsible for those promotions. However, once players reached the end site, they would not be able to register an account.”

Mr Pearson concluded: “This fine is an absolute joke, and we will contest this in every possible way, at every possible turn. We will only rest once this outrageous penalty has been rescinded and we have received the apology we deserve.”