Evolution Gaming Does Internal Review After Illegal Markets Allegations

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

Last updated on: November 26, 2021, 03:55h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More

Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

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

A “US interest” asserts Evolution is running live dealer table games online in countries where such gambling isn’t permitted. This US interest is 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).

Bloomberg first broke the news regarding the allegations.

The anonymous group conducted a probe of Evolution’s iGaming operations. The inquiry found that Evolution’s live dealers were accessible in such countries as Iraq, Sudan, and Syria through offshore iGaming sites.

Those three countries do not allow online gambling and are also each currently subject 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 it believes that the anonymous probe was simply a hit job and part of an effort to damage its reputation. But the company has nonetheless reached out to state gaming regulators to help appease concerns.

A company statement maintains that Evolution only works with licensed online business-to-customer casino operators, and does its “due diligence of the operators that the company has contracts with.”

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. However, they added, 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. That’s 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, they say the goal is to simply “level the playing field.”