Finnish streamer hit with €51,000 penalty and suspended prison sentence for gambling advertising
Lauri ‘Lateksituppi’ Kangas admits to marketing breach after advertising outside of the Veikkaus monopoly across social media
Finnish streamer Lauri ‘Lateksituppi’ Kangas has been handed a suspended prison sentence and a €51,300 penalty for advertising gambling illegally.
Kangas, who is a prominent social media influencer across Twitch, YouTube and Snapchat, has been hit with the sanction by the district court of Itä-Uusimaa over historical marketing breaches.
The court found Kangas marketed games from operators other than monopoly operator Veikkaus between 1 May 2020 and 18 May 2021.
The influencer advertised these companies on his own website, as well as Twitch, YouTube and Snapchat.
Kangas said that content across those platforms was not always managed by himself and there was potential his wider audience resided outside of Finland.
However, the court determined that the offending material was directly targeted towards Finns, with Kangas using Finnish-language sites and content.
The streamer pleaded guilty during the case, and admitted to marketing gambling content from operators other than Veikkaus.
However, Kangas denied the accusation that he received major financial benefit from the marketing, declaring he’d received no more than €7,950 in bonuses from gambling firms.
Kangas received bonuses of between €100 and €200 per week which were paid directly into his gambling account.
The court ruled that these bonuses could not be withdrawn by Kangas, and would have to be recycled through the site, meaning that it was “impossible to determine what proportion of winnings were repatriated from bonuses”.
The court did note that bonuses should be considered proceeds of the crime, which equated to an average of €150 a week for 53 weeks, totalling €7,950.
Prosecutors originally pushed for a €70,000 penalty to be handed to the influencer but this has now been reduced to €51,300. Kangas will also have to pay an compulsory €80 victim fee.
The streamer has further been handed a suspended prison sentence of 50 days and will be subject to a probationary period until 6 December 2024. Should he commit a crime during this intervening period, he will then undergo his sentence.
Kangas also has the right to appeal the decision with either the Court of Appeal or Finnish Supreme Court.
Speaking to EGR, legal advisor at Legal Gaming Attorneys at Law Antti Koivula said: “From a legal perspective, there is nothing unusual in the criminal verdict against Lauri Kangas.
“The evidence was overwhelming, and according to the court, Mr Kangas essentially admitted to acting in the manner described in the charge. The case serves as a good reminder how illegal gambling advertising exposes to criminal liability,” he added.