Police fine millions of euros for illegal marketing of gambling

The National Police Board has issued four prohibition decisions and imposed six conditional fines for illegal marketing of gambling games so far this year, said police in a press release on Wednesday.

The prohibition decisions were issued for the illegal marketing of gambling games on websites and social media.

Prohibition decisions have been reinforced with conditional fines, the amounts of which have ranged from €30,000 to €200,000 for natural persons and from €100,000 to €1.2 million for companies.

The conditional fines ordered to be paid have been imposed on natural persons and been between €20,000 and €100,000.

“The National Police Board orders the payment of a conditional fine imposed to reinforce the prohibition decision only in those cases where the prohibition decision is not complied with within the specified time limit, that is, the party subject to the prohibition has failed to fulfil the obligation imposed on them by the prohibition to refrain from marketing gambling games in violation of the Lotteries Act,” said Juhani Wallinvirta, Head of Group of the National Police Board.

Illegal gambling games are actively being marketed in Finland. The Gambling Administration at the National Police Board intervenes in illegal marketing by various means, the most important of which is a prohibition decision.

The definition of marketing gambling games is broad, but includes, for example, various forms of advertising and other sales promotion activities. The definition includes all activities aimed at increasing demand for gambling games.

Gambling games are typically illegally marketed on various social media platforms and in gaming ang gambling livestreams. Such marketing may seek, for example, to attract consumers residing in mainland Finland as customers and so encourage participation in gambling games in Finland.

A prohibition decision can be issued to both a company and an individual and, as a rule, it is reinforced by a conditional fine. The amount of the conditional fine is determined based on the scope and nature of the violation and the ability of the party that violated the law to pay. The purpose of the prohibition decision and the conditional fine is to prevent the continuation of the illegal activity.

“The imposition of a conditional fine may be considered necessary to ensure an immediate and effective end to the illegal marketing of gambling games. The purpose of the conditional fine is not to punish illegal activities, but to reinforce compliance with the prohibition decision and to ensure that illegal marketing actually ceases. Under existing law, only Veikkaus Oy has the right to market gambling games in mainland Finland,” said Wallinvirta.

In a digital environment, marketing reaches a wide audience in a short space of time. This means that effective enforcement of the prohibition on the marketing of gambling games requires a sufficiently effective means to ensure such marketing ceases in practice and without delay.