Olympic Casino Slapped with €8.4M Fine in Lithuania

The actions of a former investment fund manager, who is accused of embezzling millions to spend on gambling, resulted in a hefty fine against a popular casino operator in Lithuania. That’s the case for Sarunas Stepukonis, a former BaltCap manager who was arrested in February last year.

Only recently, Lithuania’s Gaming Supervisory Authority (LPT), the country’s gambling regulator, announced the conclusion of an investigation into the former manager’s gambling activities with one operator. The extensive probe saw the gambling watchdog fine Olympic Casino Group Baltija €8.4 million ($9.2 million).

The Former BaltCap Manager Benefitted from Bonuses, Incentives

The investigation came after accusations suggesting that Stepukonis stole approximately €42 million ($45.7 million), a sum he later used on online and land-based gambling activities. Focusing on the former manager’s gambling activities with Olympic Casino in Lithuania, LPT claimed that his transactions started from December 2016 and continued through the end of June 2021.

A major role in Stepukonis’ gambling activities played a range of bonuses and incentives offered by Olympic Casino. While those bonuses were banned by Lithuania in mid-2021, the former BaltCap manager, who had a personal manager assigned to him, was permitted to transition to Olympic Casino’s online platform in Estonia. This effectively enabled Stepukonis to continue gambling while benefitting from a range of incentives.

Virginijus Dauksys, LPT’s director, acknowledged that the operator failed to discover if their high-profile customer was suffering from problem gambling. Lithuanian gambling operators are required to report suspicious transactions to the FNTT, the Financial Crime Investigation Service and the LPT.

However, in the case of Stepukonis, the LPT wasn’t notified about any suspicious actions or high spending by the former financial manager, Dauksys explained. Instead, Stepukonis was encouraged to gamble. “An individual incentive package was prepared for him. A total of €1.3 million was allocated for this. This “bonus” could only be spent on gambling. Other incentives were also allocated,” outlined Dauksys.

Ineffective and Formal Monitoring Results in Five Breaches

Lithuania’s gambling watchdog estimated that the damage by Stepukonis was in the realm of €6.4 million ($7 million), which was the sum he spent with Olympic Casino in Lithuania. Concerningly, the regulator concluded that the gambling operator “did not take sufficient steps to identify the origin of Sarunas Stepukonis’ losing funds, and the monitoring of his financial transactions was only formal and ineffective.”

Recognizing those actions as violations of the gambling laws in the country, the LPT said that a total of five breaches were identified. Per the regulator, Olympic Casino violated the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism and the Law on Gambling.

The case with the former BaltCap manager pushed changes to the country’s gambling regulations. Supported by the LPT, the changes, which are expected to be enforced in November, require gambling companies to take action whenever they identify patterns of irresponsible gambling. It would be mandatory for licensees to report such cases to the LPT, under the new rules.

Ultimately, the changes to the regulations seek to protect the consumers from excessive gambling and harm. At the same time, by following the rules strictly, gambling operators would be able to avoid fines or regulatory action.