Evolution Gaming Conducting Internal Review Following Allegations of Operating in Illegal Markets

Posted on: November 26, 2021, 11:40h. 

Last updated on: November 26, 2021, 11:40h.

Evolution AB in Sweden confirmed this week that the business-to-business (B2B) online gaming firm has launched an internal probe to determine whether allegations regarding the company doing business in illegal markets have any merit.

A “US interest” — but not a direct competitor of Evolution Gaming, according to the public relations firm handling the communications regarding the complaint filed with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) — asserts Evolution is running live dealer table games online in countries where such gambling isn’t permitted.

Bloomberg first broke the news regarding the allegations, and Juda Engelmayer of HeraldPR subsequently reached out to Casino.org to further explain the DGE complaint.

Engelmayer says his anonymous client conducted a probe of Evolution’s iGaming operations. The inquiry, which took investigators around the world, found that Evolution’s live dealers, through various offshore iGaming sites, were accessible in such countries as Iraq, Sudan, and Syria. Those three countries do not allow online gambling, and are also each currently subjected to US sanctions.

Evolution Denies Responsibility

Evolution Gaming, Evolution AB’s North America operating subsidiary, is the largest operating of live dealer B2B online gaming in the United States. The firm is licensed and highly regulated in the three states where such internet casino operations are legal: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.

Evolution says despite its belief that the anonymous probe was simply a hit job and part of an effort to damage its reputation, the company has nonetheless reached out to state gaming regulators to help appease concerns.

Evolution says it is the customer-facing casino that is ultimately responsible for making sure its online games are only accessible by players located in legal jurisdictions.

The control of who plays the game is a strict responsibility of the operator,” the Evolution statement declared. “Evolution provides a service to the operator who in turn provides their services to the players.

“It is the operator’s responsibility to conduct a KYC (Know Your Customer) on each player and decide what markets to focus on and what players to accept,” the release continued. “It is the operator’s responsibility to comply with their regulation and their license.”

As to why investigators were allegedly able to access Evolution’s live table games while in US-sanctioned countries, the company says that is not true unless an individual uses “sophisticated technical manipulation” such as a virtual private network to conceal where the remote gambler is actually physically located.

Review Initiated

Despite rejecting the allegations made in the New Jersey DGE complaint, Evolution says it has started an internal review of its businesses in order to be ready to deliver a “swift response” to any questions regulators such as the DGE have regarding the complaint.

As for what the anonymous party is seeking in New Jersey, Engelmayer says the goal is to simply “level the playing field.”

Source: https://www.casino.org/news/evolution-gaming-conducting-internal-review-following-allegations/