The Dutch gambling regulator KSA has imposed a record €24.846 million fine on offshore operator Novatech Solutions N.V., linked to Qbet and 55Bet, for offering online gambling in the Netherlands without a licence. A second operator, Fortaprime SRL, tied to brands including AmonBet, Supraplay, Bilucky, GXSpins, Kaasino, HiddenJack and LuckyMax7, was also fined €1.795 million for unlicensed activity.

According to KSA, its investigators were able to register accounts, make deposits and gamble freely on the sites of both operators from the Netherlands, with no effective technical barriers blocking local access at the time of testing. The regulator said both cases involved illegal gambling offers aimed at Dutch players.

KSA says the fines were capped by law, not by the scale of the case

KSA said both penalties were calculated on an estimated turnover basis, because standard fixed fines would not have matched the revenue the operators allegedly generated from Dutch players. Under Dutch law, however, the regulator is limited to a maximum fine of 10% of worldwide turnover.

That cap mattered most in the Novatech case. KSA chairman Michel Groothuizen said Novatech made hundreds of millions of euros from its illegal offer, largely from Dutch players, and that without the 10% ceiling the fine would have exceeded €100 million. KSA described the Novatech sanction as the largest fine it has ever imposed on an illegal operator.

Missing age checks, crypto payments and influencer risk added pressure

KSA also flagged several aggravating factors across the cases, including the absence of visible age verification and the availability of cryptocurrency and anonymous payment methods, which the regulator said can facilitate money laundering. In both investigations, KSA found that players could move through registration and gambling flows without proper visible age controls.

In Fortaprime’s case, KSA added that the operator’s brands had been promoted by Dutch influencers, warning that influencers advertising illegal gambling operators can also face sanctions. That widens the story beyond two operators: KSA is signaling it is prepared to target not only offshore brands, but also the local marketing channels helping them reach Dutch players.

Source: https://kansspelautoriteit.nl/novatech-solutions