After winning prizes that reached 60,000 euros, the players were called to say that there was a technical error and proposing much lower values. The prosecutor is investigating suspicions of fraud.
The Public Prosecution Service is investigating a controversial promotion of Casinoportugal.pt, which will have led dozens of players to bet online and earn thousands of euros, which players claim to have never received.
The promotion, which took place on May 12 last year, offered 25 free rounds in a slot machine in exchange for a minimum deposit of 25 euros. However, alleged technical errors will have inflated the value of bets for much higher amounts, allowing gains that, in some cases, reached 60 thousand euros.
After the incident, the players received calls from the Casino to report that they could not raise the awards, claiming a “technical error” and proposing much lower compensations. The gamblers’ accounts were immediately suspended, preventing any movement.
Some players report having received threats from judicial process If they did not accept compensation proposals, which in many cases were just a fraction of the values earned, reports to.
The player MS, who accumulated 60 thousand euros, says she refused all offers because were “much inferior” to the prize and imposed on restrictive conditions. Another gambler, Diogo Freitas, whose stepfather account had 30 thousand euros, says he received only one offer of 500 euros as compensation. Already CS, which won 600 euros, says that only later did he realize the size of the problem when finding dozens of similar complaints online.
Casinoportugal.pt merely indicated that the amounts remain in the accounts of the players, but that these They are blocked until court decision. Also the prosecutor confirmed that the case is under secret justice.
Several complaints were presented to the Game Regulation and Inspection Service (SRIJ), which admitted to being Analyze the complaintsbut stressed that there is a need to listen to all parties before any decision.
Lawyer Pedro Cortés explains that if the MP concludes that there was fraud, Awards will not have to be paid. “If the investigation concludes that there was fraud, the gamblers will not receive the awards, but if it is proven that there was no irregularity, then, in principle, the exploiting entity will have to pay the amounts due,” he explains, noting that the betting houses have a security of 500 thousand euros precisely to cover these situations.
