Kindred Group fined €470,000 for Dutch Unibet violations

Dutch gaming regulators have issued a €470,000 ($512,000 USD) fine to the Kindred Group for violations racked up by its subsidiary Unibet in the Dutch gambling market, according to a report from DutchNews.nl. Unibet joins plenty of other name brand international operators who are feeling the heat from increased enforcement of gaming regulations by governments across Europe.
The Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the Dutch gambling regulatory body, issued the fine after finding that Unibet had served Dutch customers without a license between August and December of 2018. The specific violations included offering Dutch language customer service options through its Unibet.eu site. Regulators also honed in on some more blatant violations, which included processing transactions through a popular Dutch payment processor, as well as not including Holland on its terms and conditions as a forbidden site for Dutch players.
Dutch authorities have made it clear that they’re not tolerating any grey or black market gaming in the run up to the official launch of their regulated market in 2021. As they prep for that day, and the 200 applicants who have lined up for licenses, the KSA has issued multiple fines to operators who they feel have jumped the gun in serving Dutch players. The laundry list of violators includes who have been fined includes Casumo and others. The KSA refers to operators who serve Dutch players prematurely as “cowboys” and have made it very clear that they’re not going to abide by that type of behavior.
Sadly, this is not the Kindred Group’s first regulatory violation of the year. The company recently signed off on a £1.6 million settlement with the UK Gambling Commission for allegedly allowing players to deposit stolen money in their accounts.