Despite the court sentence: Casino does not refund gambling losses

In March the District Court of Osnabrück had already ordered a Malta-licensed online casino to refund several thousand Euro to a player. However, despite the legally binding court judgement the casino has still not refunded the money. But why has the casino operator ignored the court judgement?

We have already reported several times about players who reclaim casino losses from the same casino. Over a year ago we had already discussed the issue in an article, whether it makes sense at all to reclaim casino losses. Whilst in some cases the court refused the player’s claim for refund, other courts ruled in favour of the player. However, even a legally binding judgement does not guarantee that the money will be refunded to the player’s account.

District Court Osnabrück orders casino operators to refund money

On 4th March 2022 the District Court of Osnabrück had ordered the operator of a casino which is based in Malta to refund a German player the losses he had suffered (Az. 11 O 1809/21). The court had hereby found that the provider was providing illegal online gambling as it was not authorised from Germany to do so. The online casino is that of the provider Twin, which is operated by Oring Limited and based in the locality of Ta' Xbiex, in Malta. The Twin Casino has stopped offering its services in Germany. This is stated on the platform:

“We regret to inform you that until further notice we have stopped offering gambling and games of chance in your place of residence. If you still have credit left in your user account, contact our customer service and you will be disbursed!“

The Oring Limited as the company responsible for the casino should have refunded the player who complained about his losses the sum of 9.000 Euro. Besides this, the online casino was also supposed to pay the legal fees and court fees arising from the legal action. The company must also pay interest rates. In June of this year, we had reported that even more online casinos are defending themselves against the claims made by players.

Foreclosure initiated - is the casino operator bankrupt?

Although there is a legally binding judgement, the casino operator has still not refunded once cent to the respective player. And this, even though more than five months have passed from the time of the judgement. The player who issued the claim is meanwhile assuming that the online casino involved is bankrupt, and thus not capable of carrying out the payment request

For this reason, the player has contacted both the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), as the responsible Gaming Authority in Malta, and also the Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder (GGL), the Gaming Authority which for the past year has been responsible for the German online gambling market in Germany. Besides this, foreclosure has been initiated against the casino in Malta. The legal firm, CLLB, which is representing the player, states the following:

“We have handled over 1000 casino processes, and it is the first time, that a casino operator has not fulfilled the demands of the player, even though there is a court judgement. (…) We are optimistic that at the end of the day the sum will be recovered, as long as the operating company is not insolvent.“

Conclusion

Although there is a legally binding court judgement, the casino operator ha still now not refunded the 9000 Euro that were lost in the casino to the player. This case shows that even a legally bindi8ng judgement is no guarantee that the player will receive the money back. If, as we fear, the casino operator is not actually able to pay, then the player will not get a refund for his losses. It is still not clear, whether in such a case, the player will also have to bear the legal and court fees as well.

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