Trainee wins at online casino and ends up in court for money laundering

An absurd story took place a few weeks ago at the district court in Waren an der Müritz. A 26-year-old trainee had to answer for money laundering after winning money in an online casino. But what were the circumstances that prompted the judiciary to open an investigation into money laundering in this case?

Earlier this year we reported at GambleJoe that more and more Germans are being charged with illegal gambling. However, a young man from Malchow (Brandenburg) has now been charged not with participating in illegal gambling, but with alleged money laundering. According to the indictment, the trainee allegedly played on an illegal gambling platform at least three times between 2022 and 2023.

Easy come, easy go

The bizarre case in Brandenburg began with a bank report that around €3,000 had been transferred to the account of the accused apprentice from Malta. The bank reported the receipt of the money to the tax authorities, prompting the public prosecutor's office to open an investigation against the 26-year-old on suspicion of money laundering.

The transfer showed that the money came from a Maltese bank account held by Red Rhino Limited. This is a gambling company that offered online gambling in Germany without a German licence at the time. It remains unclear why the public prosecutor's office in Schwerin classified the case as "money laundering". It would have been more appropriate to investigate participation in illegal gambling. In September last year, we asked ourselves in another article how easy it is to launder money in an online casino.

Money laundering case dropped in exchange for fine
In court, the 26-year-old defendant admitted that he had gambled at an online casino operated by Red Rhino Limited. However, he claimed that he was unaware that this was illegal at the time. His lawyer, Birgit Hannemann, told the court:

"My client will never do this again".

The defendant first received a penal order at home. He was to be fined a total of 2,100 euros (30 daily rates of 70 euros each). However, the man from Brandenburg appealed, which led to the main hearing at the Müritz district court at the end of February.

At the beginning of the main hearing, the parties first discussed whether the German judiciary had any jurisdiction at all. They also questioned why the case was being prosecuted for money laundering rather than participation in illegal gambling.

In the interest of an unbureaucratic solution, the parties involved in the case quickly reached a compromise: the defendant would repay a total of 3,400 euros and the case would be dropped in exchange for a symbolic fine of 200 euros.

Red Rhino Limited has since withdrawn from the German market and blocked German IP addresses. Back in the summer of 2022, we at GambleJoe wondered when the Gaming Board would start blocking IP addresses.

Conclusion

A young man from Brandenburg, who won around 3,000 euros in an online casino without a German licence and had it paid out to him, had to answer to the court for money laundering and not for participating in illegal gambling. It would be interesting to know the answer to the question of whether and on what grounds the court would actually have found the trainee guilty of money laundering in this case.

Image source: https://pixabay.com/de/photos/euro-wäscheleine-wäscheklammer-1517315/