Tens of thousands of punters are risking fines and Bet365 representatives in Romania are liable to imprisonment by the legal framework which is currently in force in Romania regarding the remote gambling activities. The the company can even be blacklisted for the next 5 years, however the gaming giant has just been added to the list of the licensed operators to conduct gambling activities on the territory of Romania.
The many talks recently in most of the media in Romania revolved on the subject, and that is, will Bet365 be present on the Romanian market or not? The first news came from www.sport24h.ro, which published a statement by a representative ONJN official who confirmed that, Bet365 has paid the owed amounts to the state and are in the process of licensing, however this process involves several steps to made in accordance with the gambling laws.
10th of September, 2015 – is the expiration of the period of amnesty for all operators involved in remote gambling. Up to this date, all operators interested to continue their operations in Romania had to pay 20% of GGR retrospectively from 2010 to present. On that day(10.09.2015) the official website where ONJN lists operators who have obtained temporary operating license included 13 gaming operators. Bet365 was not among the 13 companies in that list.
14th of September, 2015 – In an official letter(29 997 / 14.09.2015) addressed by the representatives of the Romanian Bookmakers, The Association of Gaming Organizers Rombet and the Association of Remote Gaming Organizers have drawn the attention of the ONJN with notices with concerns about Bwin and Bet365 offending the current gaming law, claiming that they can bring evidence that the two companies are still granting access to their platforms for Romanian players.
1st of October, 2015 – The official website Bet365 displays the no. 2169 Decision which has been created on 07.09.2015, announcing their clients, that they are now regulated by the National Gambling Office in Romania. Furthermore offer a free bet to players. Even the online helpline at Bet365 have been confirmed to the players that they have been granted a license to operate in Romania and it’s legal to use their website.
6th of October, 2015 – The blacklist of sites that are banned to operate in Romania, because they do not own a license, which contains quite a few big names also includes Bwin(you can consult the blacklist here). However Bet365 is not on this list nor on the list of those who obtained the temporary license.
Simultaneously all news on the television and in the online environment show news which state that around 40,000 Romanians are liable for huge fines because they have made bets on bet365 during the 10th of September 10 and the 1st of October.
Some sources claim that these fines have been processed just a few days ago, and players who have made small bets will only receive a simple warning and those who run large sums will receive fines of up to 10,000 RON(around €2,200)!
The same sources claim that files with the names of the players’ and their contacts were taken by the representatives of Bet365 to the ONJN headquarters.
To clarify the situation our source has asked Mr. Sorin Constantinescu about this situation and this is what he understood from the conversation:
Although paid and obtained a temporary operating license of gambling in Romania, according to the law in force, Bet365 can organize and operate games of chance only starting from the 1st October 2015. Below is the text of the law(in Romanian):
The fact is that they’ve allowed Romanian players to access their platform between September 10, 2015 – October 01, 2015 can result in violation of the law, and this has been claimed by the entities mentioned above and it is most likely that the ONJN at their next meeting will cancel the license obtained on 07.09. 2015 and will include site to be blacklisted for the next 5 years!
In other words, it could be the fault of the lawyers who represented the company’s interests in Romania or its representatives were very unconscious and made a serious mistake!
It seems that following the report submitted to the competent authorities, ONJN has forwarded the case to the competent authorities and the case investigation has already begun, the legal representatives of Bet365 in Romania can risk imprisonment for the organization and operation of unauthorized gaming!
Other sources claim that the amount paid to the Romanian state, about €30 million were calculated following an audit for which the company did not provide actual figures of the revenues from the last 5 years in Romania. It seems that a new audit will be conducted by a large company which specializes in such cases. If the allegations confirm, and that actual data was not provided correctly, the company will also be charged for this as well.
Bet365 has been listed in the Approved list of gambling operators in Romania today(07.10.2015)
We are going to follow this case and report every confirmed update we receive. We want to thank the source of this article by providing a link towards the original post in Romanian:
http://ponturi-bune.ro/articole/gafa-de-proportii-bet365-risca-pierderea-licentei-in-romania/
What do you think the outcome of this case will result? Please comment bellow:
