TLDR
- A Swedish court confirmed anti-money laundering fines against Betsson, Snabbare, and Spooniker.
- The combined fines total nearly 2 million euros.
- Spooniker, run by Kindred, received the largest fine at SEK 10 million.
- The investigation focused on players aged 18 to 29 with high deposits.
- The regulator said all three companies failed to verify where customer funds came from.
A Swedish administrative court has confirmed anti-money laundering fines against three gambling companies. The ruling upholds penalties first issued by the regulator Spelinspektionen.
The court said the regulator was right to fine Betsson, Snabbare, and Spooniker for gaps in how they checked customer funds. All three companies had challenged the fines before this ruling.
The dispute started in May 2025. That is when Spelinspektionen first issued warnings and penalty fees against the operators.
Fines Confirmed by the Court
Betsson was fined SEK 6.5 million, which is about 589,400 euros. The court said this fine should stand.
Snabbare, which is run by ComeOn Group, was fined SEK 5.5 million, or roughly 498,700 euros.
Spooniker, operated by Kindred, received the largest penalty. The court confirmed a fine of SEK 10 million, close to 906,700 euros.
Betsson argued that the regulator used too narrow a standard when checking customer funds. The company also said the penalty was too harsh and did not match past cases.
The court disagreed with these arguments. It ruled that the companies did not meet the standards required under Sweden’s anti-money laundering rules.
Investigation Looked at Young Players
Spelinspektionen’s investigation focused on customers between 18 and 29 years old. Investigators reviewed the 50 players with the highest total deposits during 2023.
The regulator looked at cases where deposits did not match a player’s declared income. It said operators failed to properly check where the money came from.
One example involved a Betsson customer who made 163 deposits worth SEK 491,950 between September and December 2023. That player’s declared annual income was SEK 310,000.
The regulator said this player stayed in a low to medium risk category the whole time. It argued Betsson should have looked closer at the mismatch.
The operators said the deposits could be explained by past gambling winnings. Spelinspektionen rejected that explanation, saying the source of funds was never properly verified.
The ruling supports the regulator’s approach to reviewing deposits, income levels, and risk categories. It confirms that source-of-funds checks remain part of Sweden’s anti-money laundering rules.
For the three operators, the court’s decision means the fines stand as originally issued. The regulator’s original findings remain in place.
The ruling is one of the latest actions by Spelinspektionen targeting how gambling companies monitor customer activity, with continued focus on deposit patterns for younger players.
