Online Gambling Company CEO Arrested by Dutch Police

Dutch authorities detained online gambling company, Unibet's, CEO, Petter Nylander, because of warrants issued by French police. The warrant is related to allegations that Unibet breached laws that say they are not allowed to compete with French gambling monopolies.

The detainment was announced earlier today by Unibet's press service and the company revealed that they are extremely upset about the situation. Nylander was arrested as he was leaving an airport headed for his home in the UK.

Unibet's CFO and Deputy CEO Ragnar Hellenius released the following statement:

"This situation is clearly unacceptable and extraordinary in ours and in any industry. It is our view that this use of the possibility for cross-border legal actions is a clear abuse of their true aim, and in all aspects, disproportionate. Unibet is licensed in the UK, Malta and Italy for gambling, listed on the OMX Nordic Stock Exchange and a company complying with European law.

This is clearly a breach of the EU Treaty and the fundamental principles of the European Union. We are upset of this unlawful act and harassment against our company and a citizen of Europe and we will take every action possible to bring this matter to justice. This criminalisation of a specific individual is a tactic that we have seen French authorities using before and something we will not tolerate. We take for granted that Petter Nylander will be released immediately."

The timing of this arrest comes as a great surprise because the EU has current demands on France to break up their in-state gambling monopoly.

October 23, 2007
Posted By Bob Hartman
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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