Law enforcement in Curaçao has issued small fines to a dozen business entities behind online casino gambling.
The public prosecutor of the Office of the Attorney General of Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba agreed to settle out of court with 12 “legal entities.”
Each of those entities operates at least one online casino brand, the government said.
The sanctions, announced in July 2025, “prevent further criminal prosecution” of the online casino operators. Names of the online casino brands were not made public.
According to prosecutors, the online casinos failed to verify the identity and age of players. The gambling sites were required to do so under local rules.
The online casinos accepted the fines but didn’t admit to any criminal wrongdoing.
Slap on the Wrist for Curaçao Casinos
Eleven of the 12 legal entities paid a fine of XCG 22,500 (~$12,500 USD) to the Country of Curaçao for each operated online casino.
Approximately $200,000 in total fines was levied.
One casino operator has refused to pay its fine.
“One legal entity has not paid the fine despite the provisions of the transaction agreement,” prosecutors wrote. “As a result, the transaction between the Public Prosecution Service and this legal entity will lapse. The legal entity will be summoned to appear before the criminal court.”
Offshore online casino gambling is a multi-billion-dollar market.
The SBGOK Foundation, which represents “victims of Curaçao licensed gaming operators,” condemned the fines as “red carpet” for the industry to continue business as usual.
Nardy Cramm, the foundation’s director, told Gambling Harm in an interview the fines are “a big bird in your face.” She sharply criticized the anonymity of the fines.
“It took them [the government] years to act, and the fines are a red carpet for casinos,” Cramm said.
“You basically allow people from all countries to gamble and make them addicted, and they [the casinos] don’t care if minors are caught in between,” she added. “I have no words for how many millions of people around the world get addicted to these casinos. There is no law enforcement in Curaçao.”
Cramm said her group sued 100 online casinos operating under Curaçao’s jurisdiction. Many of the casinos shut down after facing litigation, she said.
Gambling Sanctions a First in Curaçao
The Dutch-controlled Caribbean island is a hub for online gambling platforms offering products to players globally, including Americans.
“For entrepreneurs looking to branch out into online gambling, Curaçao has been perhaps the most obvious choice,” according to fastoffshore.com. “The Curaçao gaming license has one of the world’s most popular options with some 1,200+ online gambling operators licensed and operating from within the jurisdiction.”
According to Cramm, 20,000 online casino brands operate under Curaçao jurisdiction.
The fines mark the first record of the online gambling sector facing sanctions under Curaçao law pertaining to identity and age verification.
The law in question, the National Ordinance on Identification in Service Provision, was also designed to combat money laundering.
Crucially, the law was advertised as intending to curb problem gambling.
“Following a number of signals in the media, but also due to multiple reports of criminal offences on behalf of the Foundation for the Promotion of the Advocacy of Victims of Online Gambling [SBGOK], the Investigation Cooperation Team, led by the Central Team of the Public Prosecution Service, conducted an investigation into seventeen gambling websites,” prosecutors wrote in a press release.
Cramm said her foundation provided prosecutors “evidence on a silver platter.”
Officials said an “investigation” confirmed “the suspicion that online players could create an account and then deposit money without their identity being checked.”
U.S. Fight vs. Curaçao Offshore Casinos
Gambling regulators across the U.S. have been trying to boot offshore online casinos and sportsbooks from their respective jurisdictions.
For example, the Michigan Gaming Control Board has sent cease-and-desist orders against illegal offshore gambling sites in Curaçao, Costa Rica, and the Union of Comoros.
“This crackdown reinforces the MGCB’s ongoing, relentless efforts to safeguard the state’s gaming environment and protect consumers from the risks associated with unlicensed gambling platforms,” the regulator said.
A key concern in Michigan and elsewhere is that offshore gambling sites don’t stop minors from gambling.
The fines in Curaçao appear to be more confirmation of underage offshore online betting.
According to U.S. gambling regulators, illegal offshore online casinos also offer no meaningful protections against gambling addiction.
With thousands of offshore online casinos, U.S. regulators are stuck in a whack-a-mole strategy to combat them.
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