Teenager could face serious charges for evading age ban on an internet casino site

Underage gamblers who use dishonest activity and tactics to circumvent age restrictions on gambling websites may face more than a slap on the wrist, according to reports in the Finnish media this week.

The reports are rooted in the case of a teenager (currently just 18) who on Monday appeared in a local court in the Forssa municipality accused of aggravated fraud and of stealing money from a Malta online casino.

His parents are also charged with complicity via money laundering.

Prosecutors claimed that the young man took advantage of an IT glitch to register as a customer with the online casino with a fake date of birth. The casino’s system was set up to give clients the option of cancelling the return of their funds so that the refund was paid into an online wallet as well as the customer’s bank account.

Over the course of about a month the accused exploited the software bug to transfer a total of more than Euro 252,000 in winnings from the casino’s funds to his bank accounts. Prosecutors claim the defendant had the casino send the refunds to his bank account 417 times between April and May 2017.

The young man’s father and mother also face charges of money laundering in the case, with the father accused of aggravated money laundering after a casino employee uncovered the activity a year ago.

The father allegedly had Euro 14,000 of the stolen money in his personal bank account. The mother also had Euro 2,300 her son had allegedly transferred to her account and was in possession of a motorcycle valued at over Euros 5,000 purchased with the stolen funds, according to the prosecutor, who is calling for a 20-month prison sentence for the minor, a five-month suspended sentence for the father and a more lenient suspended sentence for the mother.

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