Norwegian state-owned gambling firm Norsk Tipping has been fined NOK 4.5 million (£318,100) for breaching AML protocols.
The fine was issued by Norway’s Lottery Authority after it found out that a player was paid out NOK 25m (£1.7m) back in March, playing a casino game called ‘KongKasino’.
Usually, the payout limit for KongKasino is NOK 100,000 (£7k), with the mega jackpot standing at a maximum of NOK 5m (£354k) – both amounts significantly lower than what the player received.
“The wrong payment is a serious breach of the money gambling act,” said Atle Hamar, Director of the Lotteries and Foundations Authority.
According to local media, KongKasino has one of the “highest rates of problem gamblers”, with around 27% of all Norsk Tipping players facing a ‘moderate’ level of risk.
“This is a big wrongful payment. There is a relatively high chance that the money could have gone to a player with a gambling problem or at risk of getting it. Then those involved would have had a lot to play for,” Hamar continued.
The breach was reported to the regulator by the player themself. As per a Norsk Tipping statement, the cause was an “isolated system error” where the payout limits were overwritten by mistake.
Furthermore, the company revealed that it has communicated with the regulator that the necessary measures are being taken to prevent future infringements, which has been reflected in the amount of the penalty. There is a three week deadline from the date of the fine’s issuing to file an appeal.
“Norsk Tipping did not have good enough security measures linked to prize payouts at KongKasino when the error occurred, and this is a serious system failure. They have subsequently introduced measures, and we have included that in the assessment of the fee,” Hamar concluded.
Norsk Tipping is currently the only legal gambling firm in Norway. The NOK 4.5m is 0.05% of the entity’s 2023 turnover, which stood at NOK 9.2bn. There have been talks for Norway to transition from a gambling monopoly into a multi-licensing model, much like neighbouring Finland, but we’re yet to see anything remotely conclusive on the matter.