Spelinspektionen has slapped FDJ United-owned Spooniker with a SEK 10m (£778k) over repeated AML offences and risk of exploits from bad actors.
The Swedish regulator revealed that the operator – a subsidiary of Kindred Group which in itself is a property of French national lottery operator FDJ United – has allowed a substantial amount of funds to pass through its systems in one go on multiple occasions.
Several customer accounts were reviewed by the gambling authority, which concluded that little action was taken by Spooniker to properly assess deposits totalling “more than the taxable annual income”.
In its report, the regulator explained: “Spelinspektionen notes that all customers reviewed have made deposits totaling between approximately SEK 620,000 and SEK 830,000 during the review period.
“Apart from information on taxable income being collected on one occasion, no further measures are taken for these customers, despite the fact that they deposit between the entire taxable annual income and SEK 340,000 more than the taxable annual income.”
The suggested violations were first identified by the Swedish authority back in 2022, when Spooniker was still under the Kindred brand.
There was also a penalty imposed at that time, but a subsequent supervisory check in 2024 led Spelinspektionen to believe that the operator – managing domains such as bingo.se and unibet.se – had still not addressed the issues properly.
“They have not been able to determine whether the customers’ activities were legitimate or whether they posed a risk of money laundering or terrorist financing,” the regulator added.
Spooniker has maintained that its customer due diligence checks are on par with what is expected from a Swedish licence holder, but Spelinspektionen’s scrutiny has remained throughout – culminating in the latest penalty.
Camilla Rosenberg, Director General of the Swedish gambling authority, concluded: “The deficiencies are serious and repeated. The Swedish Gambling Authority considers that the penalty fee is proportionate to the seriousness of the violations.”