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YouTuber ordered to pay R1.5mil for promoting Fifa gambling site

Two UK men have plead guilty to breaching gambling laws in that country after they promoted a website which let gamers gamble currency earned in Fifa video games.

The website in question is FutGalaxy which allows gamers to gamble virtual currency earned in Fifa videogames or use a credit card to place bets on real-world football games. The site reportedly had no age restrictions and The Guardian reports that a 14-year old boy lost £586 (~R9700) in one instance.

The two men, Dylan Rigby and Craig Douglas plead guilty to a charge of breaching the 2005 Gambling Act. Rigby and Douglas were ordered to pay fines and costs totalling £174 000 (R2.8 million) and £91 000 (R1.5 million) respectively.

“The aggravating features of these offences are they were committed over a relatively long period of about six months. Children were gambling on your site. It’s impossible for me to know how many or the effect on them,” Judge Jack McGarva said.

Douglas is a rather popular YouTuber who goes by the name NepentheZ. The YouTuber and officer of FutGalaxy admitted that he had used his platform to promote FutGalaxy to some 1.4 million subscribers.

The unregulated gambling site reportedly brought in £96 000 in pre-tax revenue between July 2015 and February 2016.

“In my opinion, both of you were aware of the use of the site by children and the attractiveness of it to children. At the very least, you both turned a blind eye to it,” said McGrava.

 

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