As reported several days ago, the Dutch Gambling Authority or KSA has fined one of the leading online casino operators LeoVegas alongside its popular subsidiary Royal Panda for providing their gambling services and products to players residing in the Netherlands. The LeoVegas operator was fined €350K while its subsidiary was fined €400K.
Before making their ultimate decision on the issue, the Dutch Gambling Authority’s officials carefully investigated both sites and soon found that both LeoVegas and Royal Panda were fully open to customers residing in the Netherlands who played at the sites from their Dutch IP addresses. Moreover, it was also found out that both sites allowed customers to use the iDEAL payment system for gaming here.
Because online gambling is fully prohibited in the Netherlands, this is a big issue for the operators. Even though online gambling is prohibited in the country, applications for gaming licensing are currently being accepted as the Dutch Senate has recently approved a crucial Remote Gaming Bill which will finally allow fully regulated and licensed gaming within the country’s borders.
Netherlands’ Regulated Online Gaming Market to Start by 2021
Thanks to the Dutch Senate passing a Remote Gaming Bill, the country will probably have a fully regulated online gambling market by 2021. When it comes to LeoVegas’s fine, the company’s officials are considering to appeal this fine. Commenting on the news, the company’s spokesperson stated that the company can submit a fine appeal as they wait for upcoming regulatory reforms to be fully enforced and as they wait for the licensing process to starts.
It should be noted that Roya Panda and LeoVegas are not the very first companies facing this issue and being fined by the Dutch Gambling Authority. Back in February of this year, the 1xBet operator was also fined around €400K for offering its online gaming products to the Netherlands residents. Then, in September, The Stars Group was also forced to pay the same fine after the KSA discovered that the company was operating without any license. Another investigation by the KSA discovered that PokerStars.eu was visited by more than 33,000 players from the Netherlands.
Empire Resorts Limited Hit with a Lawsuit Filled by Minority Shareholders
Another company that is facing legal issues is the firm that operates the popular Resorts World Catskills casino facility, Empire Resorts Incorporated. As it was revealed recently, the company has been hit with a serious lawsuit filed by several of its minority shareholders over claims that Empire Resorts Incorporated plans on going private despite the wishes of several of its minority shareholders.
According to one Times Herald-Record’s report, the lawsuit against the company was initiated by David Mullen with Sullivan County, which is a branch of the Supreme Court of New York. The main purpose of this lawsuit as stated by Mr. Mullen is to halt a business deal which could potentially see Genting Malaysia Berhad acquire all of the USA-based company’s shares for a price of $9.74 for a single share.
The same newspaper which revealed this news also detailed that the lawsuit by Mr. Mullen is also seeking immediate class-action status while it names the company’s board members including Edmund Marinucci, Gerard Ewe Keng Lim, Nancy Palumbo, Keith Horn, and Emanuel Pearlman as main defendants. Furthermore, the legal action lists several majority stakeholders including Genting Malaysia Berhad and Kien Huat Realty III as the proceeding’s subjects. Before this news, it was reported that Genting Malaysia Berhad and Kien Huat Realty III already own around 86% of the Empire Resorts Incorporated’s shares while they have agreed to purchase the remaining shares held by minority stakeholders in August against wishes of the company’s minority shareholders.
