The Gaming Supervisory Authority found that Olympic Casino Group Baltija (OCGB) failed to adequately identify the origin of Šarunas Stepukonis’ lost funds and monitored his financial transactions only formally and ineffectively. This led to a fine of almost 8.4 million euros following an inspection of OCGB’s activities in Lithuania.
The LPT conducted an investigation into OCGB’s actions regarding Stepukonis’ transactions on their gaming website from December 2016 to June 2021. Under the law, gaming operators must ensure customer funds are not derived from or used in criminal activities and must verify the origin of such funds. The LPT found OCGB’s measures were poor and insufficient, with only formal monitoring of Stepukonis’ transactions.
Gambling organizers are required to report suspicious transactions to the FNTT. Despite clear signs that should have raised suspicions, OCGB did not inform the FNTT about Stepukonis’ transactions.
Evidence collected during the inspection also showed Stepukonis’ gambling behavior was irresponsible. The company, assigned with a personal manager to oversee Stepukonis’ transactions, failed to address this issue.
“Instead of investigating whether Stepukonis had a gambling problem or informing the supervisory authority, Olympic Casino encouraged further gambling by preparing an individual incentive package worth 1.3 million euros, which could only be spent on gambling. Other incentives were also provided,” commented LPT Director Virginijus Daukšys.
Since mid-2021, Lithuanian gambling companies can no longer offer incentives that customers would later lose. Just before this regulation came into effect, Stepukonis’ virtual gambling was moved from Lithuania to Estonia, where encouraging gamblers was still permitted. This maneuver helped maintain gambling incentives and evade LPT supervision. While ordinary Lithuanian gamblers were redirected to the Lithuanian website, Stepukonis was not, which is part of the pre-trial investigation.
The inspection identified five violations of the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism and the Law on Gambling. The law allows for fines up to twice the amount of the damage caused, which was determined to be 6.4 million euros – the amount Stepukonis lost at Olympic Casino in Lithuania. The fine calculation considered the company’s lack of cooperation during the inspection as an aggravating factor.
Following the exposure of this case, measures were taken to prevent similar incidents. The LPT proposed a new law requiring gambling companies to take action and report irresponsible gambling to the LPT. “Until now, there was no such obligation. As a result, the LPT did not have the information needed to take preventive actions in advance,” said Daukšys.
The new Gambling Law, coming into force in November this year, aims to reduce gambling accessibility, attractiveness, and potential harm to personal health. LPT also revised its internal procedures to allow for more frequent inspections of gambling companies’ activities. Additionally, an audit by the Ministry of Finance found no significant operational deficiencies, and LPT has allocated more human resources to money laundering prevention functions.
