Casino.org – Questionable goings on in the Low Countries this week, as the Blue Gem Gaming website flat-lined while its third-party gaming software disappeared from its clients’ casinos, all of which points to a crackdown by the Dutch authorities.
Blue Gem took over some of the assets of disgraced Eindhoven-based slots software developer Sheriff Gaming just last month, claiming to be unaffiliated with the bankrupt company. Blue Gem began to market and license Sheriff’s game titles to online casinos, but it seems that the authorities just aren’t buying it.
Sheriff was a successful 3D games developer, producing popular titles such as Atlantis, Mr. Good and Fortune Farm, until May 2013 when, bizarrely, Dutch police arrested the owners and CEO of its parent company, The Bubble Group, and charged them with criminal offenses, including illegal gambling, money laundering and drug dealing. In the aftermath, Dutch prosecutors seized 100 bank accounts, 80 residential properties and 20 vehicles across Central Europe.
It seems the company’s CEO, Stijn Flapper, along with two brothers, Maurice and Michel Gregoire, had links to telecommunications and online payments company Teletick BV, and it’s alleged they were dealing soft drugs and operating seven illegal online gambling sites as a means of funding that company’s operations. Several online casinos were immediately shut down, including AmsterdamsCasino, AmsterdamsPoker, JackpotRed, TripleGold, Golden10Casino, Tanzoo and FruitLuck.
