Bwin.party Financial Penalty Issued for New Jersey Licensing Violation

A bwin.party financial penalty of $10,000.00 was issued by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE) for violating the state’s licensing rules.

According to a spokesperson from the NJDGE, a bwin.party financial penalty was issued to the company for breaking US gambling laws and “violating the terms of a Divestiture Agreement” that they’d made when they had applied for their license in 2013. In the agreement two major bwin.party shareholders, Ruth Parasol DeLeon and James Russels DeLeon, had been requested by the NJDGE to be divested of their ownership of the gaming operator as a condition for licensing.

The married couple were the founders of Party Poker, and were in the process of divorcing when bwin.party was in the process of being licensed. As part of the licensing agreement the DeLeon’s shares were placed in separate trusts that were be divested over a 36 month period, starting the day that bwin.party received its state license.

Bwin.party financial penalty issued for selling off shares

Contrary to the original agreement, in June 2015 the remaining 50 million trust shares were sold off prematurely at a discounted price. The DeLeon’s ultimately received 46 million dollars for their 6% shareholder stake in bwin.party.

NJDGE director David Rebuck said of the bwin.party financial penalty: “The division filed a complaint against bwin.party alleging a violation of the terms of the divestiture agreement for failing to provide notification of the division, which could increase the duration of the disposal period and have the intended consequences of affecting the independence of the trustees in the performance of their duties.”

This is not the only bad US gambling news for bwin.party. Borgata—the online gaming operator’s land-based New Jersey affiliate—has been ordered to forfeit more than $3,700.00 confiscated from gamblers who were unable to prove that they were of legal gambling age. The fine encompasses 55 under-aged gamblers who played between 2012 and 2013.