A prominent fashion designer is taking on Kindred Group this week, filing a lawsuit in Sweden alleging the company contributed to his gambling addiction. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
Huge losses
Kindred Group is facing a lawsuit from a prominent fashion designer in Sweden. Per Holknecht is seeking compensation of 10 million Swedish krona (US$1 million), claiming that the gambling group and its subsidiary Spooniker Ltd contributed to his addiction. The hearing of the case began on Tuesday in the Stockholm District Court.
I lost more than 26 million SEK (2.5 million USD) on Unibet
The founder of clothing brand Odd Molly lost up to 100 million Swedish krona (US$9.5 million) while gambling on 30 different online platforms. Holkencutt liked using Kindred brands the most, and said he lost more than 26 million Swedish krona (US$2.5 million) on Unibet between 2005 and 2019. In just one month, he spent 2.7 million Swedish krona (US$257,897).
The majority of the events described by Holkencutt in the lawsuit occurred before Sweden’s new gambling law came into effect in 2019; Kindred is believed to have violated previous laws. The 63-year-old has not gambled since 2018.
Highlight issues
The designer explained that in certain moments of desperation when he vowed to stop gambling, he would receive a phone call within two days from a Unibet representative who would tell him that they had added the bonus money to his account. He believes the operator was afraid of moving to a competing platform. Kindred on Tuesday disputed that Holknekt was never a VIP client, while saying excerpts from the GDPR refute that statement.
There is a track record of customers who have lost large amounts of money while gambling online in Sweden and received compensation from the operator. Betsson AB must pay a former client SEK5.8 million (US$554,000) due to “worsening of his mental illness” following a decision by the Swedish Patent and Market Appeal Court in December.
The ruling states that the operator targeted the customer with aggressive marketing and that employees encouraged him to continue gambling. His lawyer was able to prove that the gambling company was aware of his serious gambling problem. Holkencutt welcomed this decision and also noted that similar rulings were occurring across Europe.
Possible historical case
Holknekt has pushed for gambling reform over the years in Sweden. He reportedly compiled a long list of violations and shortcomings within Kindred’s platforms after filing the lawsuit in the summer of 2022. The designer worked alongside data experts to determine how the gambling group was exploiting problem gamblers and failing to meet its anti-money laundering obligations.
The Swedish government will implement new rules in April that will strengthen protections for gamblers and impose higher fines on operators with anti-money laundering failures.
Holkencutt believes that the positive ruling means that other people who lost money through platforms that were operating in Sweden before the launch of the regulated market will have the right to get their money back. These types of rulings already occur in Germany and Austria. Holknekt is also working on creating an app that will allow people to block unlicensed gambling platforms.
