€24 million fine for illegal casino: regulators left empty-handed

The Dutch Gaming Authority has slapped illegal casino Qbet with a historic €24 million fine. A purely symbolic punishment: just like in Belgium, regulators are completely powerless to actually collect this money from offshore gambling sites.

The Dutch Kansspelautoriteit (Ksa) is fining the illegal casino Qbet nearly €25 million. However, the chance of this amount ever appearing in the government’s account is slim. Collecting such million-euro fines from offshore gambling sites is also an almost impossible task for the Belgian Gaming Commission (KSC).

Dutch regulator issues record fine

The Ksa has imposed a record fine of €24,846,000 on the illegal online casino Qbet. The parent company, Novatech Solutions, offered online games of chance to Dutch players without a license.

This had been going on for some time. In November 2024, the company first received an order subject to periodic penalty payments of a maximum of €840,000. This was eventually paid. A much heavier sanction followed thereafter.

According to chairman Michel Groothuizen, the company earned hundreds of millions of euros from players in the Netherlands. The amount of the fine is based on the estimated turnover generated through Dutch players.

The law does impose a ceiling. A fine may not exceed ten percent of the worldwide turnover. Without that maximum, according to Groothuizen, the penalty would even have exceeded €100 million.

Fortaprime SRL, the company behind Amonbet and Kaasino, also received a sanction. In that case, it concerns €1,795,000 because these sites actively targeted Dutch players.

Large fines often exist primarily on paper

Paper monster fines make little impression on offshore casinos in Curaçao. Regulators simply lack the legal power to enforce payments outside of Europe.

Many illegal casinos are located outside Europe, for example in Curaçao or other offshore jurisdictions. As a result, regulators have few legal means to enforce payment.

This problem also exists in Belgium. The Belgian KSC can indeed fine foreign gambling sites when they accept Belgian players without a license.

In theory, a full procedure then follows. First, the regulator investigates whether a site targets Belgium. This can be followed by a warning, for example with a request to block Belgian players.

If that does not happen, a sanction procedure is started. The website can end up on the official blacklist and an administrative fine can be imposed.

But collecting those fines is by no means always successful.

The Belgian reality: Only 20% of fines actually collected

Figures from the KSC show how difficult this is. In 2023, €1.12 million in fines were imposed on illegal providers. Ultimately, only €236,725 was actually collected.

This means that a large portion of the sanctions is never paid. Some experts therefore call the penalties a “toothless tiger.”

That is why Belgium is increasingly deploying other means. Websites can be blocked through the courts and internet providers can be obliged to restrict access.

Payment flows can also be hindered and the promotion of illegal sites is strictly addressed.

The real victims of these offshore structures are the players themselves. When casinos like Qbet ignore million-euro fines from the government with impunity, they logically offer their customers zero guarantees in payout disputes. In practice, a foreign license simply means a total lack of legal protection.