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Frankfurt Courts Hit Black Market Operators Where it Hurts
By Shane Addinall May 28, 2022 IndustryWhile German players await more legal gambling options in their country, courts in the European region ruled on illegal gambling cases before GlüNeurRStV legalised igaming. Frankfurt and Gießen’s justice systems have a unique view of these.A German citizen sued an anonymous online casino because the operator allowed them to deposit money and play games of chance while it was illegal in the country. Two German courts backed the player and ordered the operator to fully refund the gambler.
Reports cite the casino offered services to the player outside the regulated region of Schleswig-Holstein before the new State Treaty legalised online gambling throughout Germany. The refunds relate to transactions from 2018 through to 2020 and amount to €26,000.
This is one of many cases where German players take operators to court with at least one other player who enjoyed a positive outcome.
Frankfurt’s Higher Regional Court Agrees
The player already had a thumbs up from the Gießen Regional Court. The court heard the case and ruled in favour of the player in September 2021. Possibly to circumvent a successful appeal from the operator, the player took the case to Frankfurt’s Higher Regional Court and received another favourable ruling.
István Cocron represented the plaintiff and motioned that the Gibraltar-based operator violated the country’s gambling restrictions by accepting deposits from the player, and they had no legal permission to do so. Purportedly, the gambling platform offered igaming services in German.
Because the operator infringed on the State Treaty on Gambling, Section 4 (4), the plaintiff claimed a refund of all their deposits. Both Gießen Regional Court and Frankfurt Higher Regional court agreed and summoned the operator to reimburse the €26,000 they received over 2 years.
Ignorance is Bliss
This is the second time the Frankfurt court has ruled in favour of a player claiming money back from an operator. Another German player sued an online casino with a Maltese licence and demanded a refund for their deposits worth €12,000. The transactions in question took place in 2017 when online gambling was illegal in Germany. The Frankfurt court backed the successful ruling, as decided by the District Court of Giessen (Hesse).
Germany legalised online gambling in 2021 and issued one licence to a successful applicant since then. Before July last year, igaming was outlawed in all states of the European country except for the state of Schleswig-Holstein. The operators in question did not have a licence, nor did the player live in Schleswig-Holstein.
In both cases, the Frankfurt court found that the operator was at fault. There was no conclusive evidence that the players knew that online gambling was illegal. Therefore, the players walked away with no charges.
Other Courts Warn Players
Although the two plaintiffs in Frankfurt were victorious, other players nearly faced charges themselves. Last year, three different regional courts faced similar cases. These players took a similar approach, but the courts ruled against them and warned them of criminal code violations.
Reports about the three separate incidents cite the Regional Courts of Leipzig and Braunschweig. The District Court of Munich concludes that gambling has the inherent risk of losing money, and players know this. Furthermore, all three courts reminded the players that they violated the country’s Criminal Code, section 285, which prohibits citizens from participating in illegal gambling.
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