Recovery of losses from illegal online casinos in Switzerland

The enforcement of a claim for unjust enrichment (Art. 62 et seq. CO) as a result of losses from illegal online casino games is in principle possible in Switzerland. It can be assumed that the courts will recognise a nullity of the contracts and allow recoveries. Online casinos were fully prohibited until the end of 2018 and have been subject to a licensing requirement since January 2019 with the introduction of the new Federal Gaming Act (Geldspielgesetz).

Legal and illegal online casinos in Switzerland

There are only 10 legal online casinos operating in Switzerland, which have been granted a permit by the Swiss Federal Gaming Authority (Eidgenössische Spielbankenkommission):

• goldengrand.ch
• jackpots.ch
• pasino.ch
• gamrfirst.ch
• starvegas.ch
• 7melons.ch
• mycasino.ch
• online.swisscasinos.ch
• casino777.ch
• swiss4win.ch

No reclaims can be made from these legal providers.

All other online casinos operate without a licence in Switzerland and are therefore illegal. In principle it should be possible to reclaim losses.

Lawsuits in Switzerland

We are currently handling various lawsuits against illegal online casinos so that Swiss jurisdiction will have to deal with such cases. Most of the casinos are based in Malta, Curaçao, Isle of Man and Gibraltar. There are currently no decisions of the Federal Supreme Court, but nullity of contracts have been recognised in comparable situations, which is why a successful enforcement of the claims is to be expected. However, only the net losses can be claimed (deposits minus payouts).

First settlements concluded (Update April 2023)

Our team has already been able to conclude the first out-of-court agreements with online casinos for players. The losses from illegal online casino gambling were largely repaid to the injured players.

Free case assessment

Affected players may contact us for an initial free case assessment (manuel.bader@streichenberg.ch or via contact form). There are various options for covering legal costs, which will be discussed.