A Dutch court has ordered a former BetCity employee and a player to repay substantial damages, after a fraudulent scheme involving unauthorised free bets generated significant financial losses for Entain-owned BetCity operator BetEnt B.V.
The District Court of Amsterdam ruled that the employee breached his contract by deliberately issuing hundreds of free play credits without justification. These credits, normally capped at €200 and meant for customer support cases, were then issued in bulk to selected accounts in a manner that bypassed internal controls. The court found that there was excessive allocation of credits to four player accounts, amounting to nearly €496,000 in free bets.
Unlawful Conduct and Deliberate Circumvention of Controls
The credits were then spent, generating winnings of over €354,000, with total winnings exceeding €401,000 as play continued. One of the account holders was also a defendant in the court. It was found that the employee and the player had acted unlawfully, and they were jointly liable for part of the damages.
The employee alone was held responsible for additional sums linked to other accounts involved in the scheme. Judges rejected arguments that the operator shared responsibility due to insufficient oversight. The ruling noted that the employee intentionally circumvented fraud detection systems by using non-standard processes and structuring withdrawals below monitoring thresholds.
Judgement on Financial Liability and Account Closure
The court also dismissed claims that the employee’s alleged gambling problem should mitigate liability, citing a lack of evidence and no indication that the employer was aware of such issues. A request to reduce damages based on financial hardship was similarly denied, with the court emphasising the intentional nature of the misconduct.
In total, the BetCity employee was ordered to repay multiple amounts, including €82,856.50 and €60,481.04 tied to winnings on other accounts, alongside shared liability of €73,230.11 with the player. The court found that BetEnt, which was fined €2.65m last October for responsible gaming failures, had made the right move in closing the player’s account in June 2023.
