A Swedish Administrative Court has backed the gaming regulator’s findings that Betsson committed ‘serious violations of money laundering regulations’.
Spelinspektionen first brought action against Betsson Nordic Ltd, alongside Spooniker Ltd – a then-subsidiary of FDJ United’s Kindred Group – and Snabbare Ltd – a subsidiary of ComeOn Group, for failing to take sufficient customer due diligence measures in May 2025.
The regulator warned all three and handed them fines of SEK 6.5m, SEK 10m and SEK 5.5m, respectively, for actions that took place in 2023.
In each instance, Spelinspektionen investigated the operator’s processes for a select group of customers and found that they had failed to adequately identify the source of income for large deposits that couldn’t be justified by the consumer’s taxable income.
The operators attributed the funds to previous winnings; however, Spelinspektionen said that this could not be accurately verified, as the funds had been removed from the consumer’s gaming accounts.
Spelinspektionen asserted that the operators should have taken more action to accurately ascertain whether the withdrawn funds were the same ones that were then deposited back into the gaming account.
The operators argued that these requirements go beyond what is set out in Sweden’s gaming regulations and, in the case of Betsson, described them as ‘impractical and unfeasible’.
In laying out its objections to the ruling, Betsson said: “The interpretation of the Swedish Gambling Authority – that licensees may only take into account previous withdrawals if they have verified that they are indeed from there as later deposits by continuously obtaining account statements – is incorrect.
“It goes against the previous practice of the administrative court, the preparatory work of the money laundering regulations and supranational guidance. Furthermore, it lacks a connection to both the risk-based approach and the facts of the case. The interpretation is also disproportionate and violates the principles of equal treatment.”
Spooniker similarly described Spelinspektionen’s risk assessments of the chosen consumers as ‘imprecise and unsubstantiated’ due to only taking into account gross deposits.
Despite these protests, in each instance, the court backed the regulator’s decision that the operators had not done sufficient due diligence to ascertain the source of the funds and upheld both the warning and penalty fees.
The court said that once the ‘closed loop’ of gambling is broken by customers withdrawing funds, operators must take more extensive steps to ensure that the funds returned to their gaming wallet are the same, as gambling constitutes a high-risk industry for money laundering.
Betsson and Snabbare remain active in the Swedish market. Meanwhile, Spooniker’s licence expired in October 2025, and FDJ is present in the country via Unibet Sweden, which holds a licence through Kaprifol Services Limited.
The decision comes a month after the same court chose to overturn a fine handed to LeoVegas in March 2025 by Spelinspektionen as it found that the operator had ‘clearly and distinctly’ not breached its duty of care obligations set out by the Swedish Gambling Act.
iGaming Expert has reached out to all three operators regarding the decision.
