The Australian Federal Court has ordered Diverse Link Pty Ltd to pay a fine of AU$5 million (€3.04 million) for providing unlicensed online gambling services through its domain Redraw Poker.
The penalty comes as a result of civil action by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). Following an investigation, the ACMA filed the civil action against Rhys Edward Jones, Diverse Link Pty Ltd and Brenton Lee Buttigieg. The suit alleged that Diverse Link had breached the Interactive Gambing Act 2001 from March 15th 2021 to April 13th 2022.
According to the judgement delivered in court today by Federal Court Justice David Thomas, the company had breached the act by offering customers the opportunity to play poker online using AU$1 chips that were purchased through the Redraw poker site. In his statement Justice Thomas said:
“The process was unregulated and there were no controls and no way in which problem compulsive gamblers were assisted.”
Deposits made through the website totaled AU$4.2 million (€2.5 million), but this did not take into account chip purchases that were made using bitcoin. However, Justice Thomas noted that despite the fact that it was unlikely that the AU$5 million would be recovered, the fine should work as a deterrent for other unlicensed operators.
“A penalty at that level is, on the evidence before me, more than merely the cost of doing business and will give effect to the purpose of general deterrence.”
In his decision, Justice Thomas said that the ACMA investigation and subsequent legal proceedings came as a result of complaints from two users of Redraw Poker. He quoted one of the users saying:
“There is no responsible gambling feature, allowing people to make multiple accounts under fake identities … I have lost thousands at this site and asked to be banned multiple times but they can’t honour requests or just don’t have the care or capacity.”
This was the first time that a civil action has been taken against individuals for breaching the Interactive Gaming Act in this manner. Diverse Link Pty did not take part in the court proceedings and will be deregistered by the ACMA.
The latest penalty means that the total fines issued for 2023 so far tops AU$583.3 million with almost AU$479 million of that figure issued by Australian regulators and courts.
The first six months of 2023 saw gambling regulators across Europe, North America, and Australia issue fines totaling €75,187,033 / AU$123425,204.
Based in London, Natasha is a former sports journalist with experience working for some of the biggest athletes & brands in the world of sports and iGaming.