Danish court confirms fine for illegal bingo and banko operator

The Copenhagen City Court has upheld a decision in favour of Denmark’s gambling regulator.

Denmark.- The Copenhagen City Court has decided in favour of Spillemyndigheden in a case involving illegal bingo and banko. It’s upheld a previous verdict against an unnamed community association that was sanctioned for offering unlicensed gambling.

The case dates back to a control visit made by the gambling regulator back in 2019, when it found the association had been offering daily bingo and banko games to members for several years. The regulator reported the group to the police after finding the games to be the organisation’s main purpose, constituting a breach of Danish law.

Lotteries, bingo and banko in Denmark can only be run by the state-controlled monopoly of Danske Spil. The only exceptions permitted are for non-profit organisations that use the funds raised for good causes. However, in the case of this group, the regulator said it existed purely to run gambling rather than to provide funding for a cause

The court agreed with Spillemyndigheden’s appraisal and ordered the association to pay a DKK15,000 fine and to have an estimated DKK5m in illicit proceeds confiscated. 

For 2022, Danske Spil reported a 3 per cent rise in annual gross gaming revenue to DKK4.98bn (€668.4m). Danske Lotteri Spil GGR was DKK2.81bn, up just 0.7 per cent. While Danske Licens Spil’s sports betting and online casino operations generated DKK1.66bn, down 8.7 per cent due to a drop in sports betting revenue.