Kindred’s Swedish unit, Spooniker, is facing new regulatory action after failing to fix anti-money laundering issues that were flagged nearly two years ago.
Good to know
- Spooniker runs seven betting and gaming websites in Sweden, including unibet.se and mariabingo.se.
- Customers flagged for suspicious activity deposited more than their yearly income.
- Regulator found gaps in verifying source of funds and transaction records.
Spelinspektionen, Sweden’s gambling authority, has fined Spooniker SEK10 million ($1 million) and issued a warning after finding the operator had not taken enough steps to fix flaws in its customer monitoring process. This decision follows a previous fine in 2022 for similar issues.
The regulator reviewed Spooniker’s actions between May 2023 and April 2024, selecting five customers as part of its check. It found that although Spooniker’s systems flagged some users multiple times for high deposits and unusual gaming behavior, little action was taken.
One of the biggest concerns was players depositing funds equal to or higher than their annual taxable income. Even with this red flag, the company did not follow up with proper checks. In one case, a customer deposited SEK460,000 without being subjected to deeper scrutiny. The regulator noted that, as a new player, this individual should have triggered stricter due diligence measures.
Spelinspektionen also found missing links in transaction records. In at least one instance, money moved from another gambling firm to a player’s bank account and then into their Spooniker account, but Spooniker could not show a full audit trail.
The regulator concluded that Spooniker failed to gather enough data to confirm whether funds came from legal sources. Without knowing the origin of funds, it said, the operator could not properly assess whether transactions were tied to money laundering or financing terrorism.
While Spooniker has made some progress—including setting up continuous monitoring and applying monthly loss limits—it did not take corrective action quickly enough. The company argued that no further suspicious behavior had been seen among the reviewed users, but that did not stop the fine from being issued.
The SEK10 million penalty follows earlier enforcement. In November 2022, Spelinspektionen fined Spooniker SEK10.9 million for similar weaknesses in its controls. Additionally, Spooniker was fined SEK30 million in 2023 for offering unapproved bonuses and lottery services back in 2020.
The watchdog noted that although Sweden updated how it calculates fines on June 1, 2024, the violations under review happened earlier. As a result, the fine was capped at €1 million.
The post Swedish Watchdog Fines Spooniker for AML Failures Again appeared first on iGaming.org.