Swedish Court Upholds AML Fines Against Betsson, Snabbare, and Spooniker

A Swedish court has upheld anti-money laundering (AML) fines against online operators Betsson Nordic, Snabbare, and Spooniker, rejecting their appeals. The rulings, issued by Sweden’s Administrative Court in Linköping on July 2, 2026, and announced by the regulator Spelinspektionen the following day, reinforce the importance of stringent AML due diligence in the iGaming sector.

The core of the legal dispute centered on whether operators could legitimately treat a customer’s deposit as safe simply because it appeared to originate from prior winnings, even when the customer used the same bank account for both deposits and withdrawals. The court definitively answered no, stating that “an assumption that deposits consist of previous winnings is not an enhanced customer due-diligence measure.”

Key facts
| Operator | Fines Upheld | Key Issue | Court’s Finding |
|—|—|—|—|
| Betsson Nordic | Yes | AML breaches related to customer deposits | Breaches serious, but not systematic due to small sample size |
| Snabbare | Yes | AML breaches related to customer deposits | Breaches serious, but not systematic due to small sample size |
| Spooniker | Yes | AML breaches related to customer deposits | Breaches serious and repeated, due to prior warning |

The court’s consistent reasoning across all three cases highlights a significant point for iGaming operators: the practice of relying on closed-loop payments and assuming deposits are returned winnings is insufficient on its own to meet AML obligations. This approach has been a point of contention within the industry for years, and the court’s decision provides a clear answer for Swedish operators.

Betsson’s Appeal Details

Betsson Nordic’s appeal focused on eight customers, aged between 20 and 29, who deposited substantial sums ranging from SEK133,584 to SEK491,950 over several months. The company argued that Spelinspektionen’s interpretation of AML rules exceeded the requirements of the money-laundering framework and relevant EU guidance. Betsson contended that any potential violations were neither systematic nor serious, seeking cancellation or a significant reduction of the fine.

The court, however, found the breaches to be serious. While agreeing that the sample size of 10 reviewed customers was too small to classify the pattern as systematic, this partial concession did not alter the outcome, and the fine was upheld.

Snabbare’s Case

Snabbare faced similar scrutiny concerning 10 customers who deposited between approximately SEK950,000 and SEK3.2 million each. The operator presented evidence of 139 manual checks and a report filed with Sweden’s Financial Police (Finanspolisen), arguing that the alleged shortcomings were not systematic. The court concurred that the limited number of customers reviewed prevented a finding of systematic breaches. Nevertheless, the court deemed the violations serious and maintained the fine. Snabbare’s argument that encouraging players to withdraw winnings was a risk-reducing habit was also not accepted as grounds to bypass monitoring obligations.

Spooniker’s Repeated Failings

Spooniker’s case involved five customers, but the company had previously been warned for similar AML failings in 2022. Spooniker claimed the threshold for intervention had not been met and that the failings were neither serious, systematic, nor repeated. The court disagreed, specifically noting the 2022 warning meant the new breaches were to be treated as repeated rather than isolated incidents. Unlike Betsson and Snabbare, Spooniker received no concession regarding the nature of its breaches, as the prior warning provided sufficient grounds for the court to classify the current failings as repeated. Consequently, Spooniker’s fine also stood as originally imposed.

Implications for Operators

The unified stance of the court in these three cases sends a strong message to all iGaming operators in Sweden and potentially beyond. For operators who have relied on the assumption that customer deposits, especially those appearing to be from previous winnings, automatically satisfy due diligence requirements, this ruling suggests that such an approach is precarious. The judgments imply that operators must actively seek verification, such as bank statements, for high-value depositors if they wish their AML practices to withstand regulatory scrutiny.

Alexandra Pankratyeva, Senior iGaming Editor at European Gaming, noted that the rulings provide clarity on the long-debated issue of closed-loop payments and the assumption of deposits from winnings, indicating that these practices alone are insufficient for AML due diligence.

Source: European Gaming – Swedish court upholds AML fines against Betsson, Snabbare, Spooniker (https://europeangaming.eu/portal/latest-news/2026/07/08/208993/swedish-court-upholds-aml-fines-against-betsson-snabbare-spooniker/)

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