The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE) has issued a $10,000 (€9,100) fine to bwin.party, as well as three land-based casinos, for violation of licensing rules in the US state.
According to the NJDGE, bwin.party was handed the penalty for “violating the terms of a Divestiture Agreement” it made when applying for a licence in 2013.
As a condition of the licensing, NJDGE had requested two major shareholders in bwin.party, Ruth Parasol DeLeon and James Russels DeLeon, be divested of their ownership of the online gaming operator.
The husband and wife, who at the time were in the process of divorcing, were the founders of PartyPoker, with the terms of the licensing agreement designed to sever links with the entity.
The couple’s shares were placed into separate trusts to be divested over a period of 36 months, beginning the day bwin.party was handed its licence in the state.
However, in June of this year, the remaining 50 million of the shares in the trust were sold off early at a discounted price, with the pair collecting $46 million for their 6% stake in the operator.
Outlining the details of the fine, NJDGE director David Rebuck said: “The division filed a complaint against bwin.party alleging a violation of the terms of the divestiture agreement for failing to provide notification to the division, which could increase the duration of the disposal period and have the unintended consequences of affecting the independence of the trustees in the performance of their duties.”
Meanwhile, the Borgata, bwin.party’s land-based affiliate in New Jersey, has been told to forfeit more than $3,700 confiscated form gamblers who were not able to prove they were of legal gambling age.
The fine represents the amount held from 55 gamblers from between 2012 and 2013.
Elsewhere, the Trump Taj Mahal was been ordered to forfeit over $16,000 seized from three punters who had self-excluded, while Resorts has been fined $3,000 for cashier protocol violations.
source : www.igamingbusiness.com
