Baltimore Launches Major Lawsuit Against Top Sweepstakes Casino Operators, Including VGW and High 5

The city of Baltimore, represented by the city’s Law Department and the Dicello Levitt, has filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court against six popular social casino operators.

In an e-filed copy with the Baltimore City Circuit Court, the plaintiff argues that these companies violated the city’s Consumer Protection Ordinance by operating an illegal gaming platform masked as lawful sweepstakes platforms. 

The list of defendants include VGW Holdings (operator of LuckyLand Slots and Chumba Casino), Yellow Social Interactive Limited (Pulz Casino), Sweepstakes Limited (Stake.us), High 5 Entertainment, LLC (High 5 Games), and Blazesoft Ltd (Fortune Coins).

The complaint further added that these companies are largely foreign-owned, and incorporated in Estonia, Cyprus, Malta, and Canada. The identified sweepstakes casinos target Baltimoreans even without authorization, siphoning millions of dollars in bets, while skipping state rules and consumer protection.

City of Baltimore Draws the Line

The complaint is led by City Solicitor Ebony Thompson and DiCello Levitt, a leading national law firm. As indicated in its filing, the targeted companies “run illegal gambling operations”, masked as legitimate sweepstakes gaming platforms, and violating the city’s Consumer Protection Ordinance. 

According to Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott, “the lawsuit is about drawing a clear line: illegal gambling operations are not welcome in Baltimore”. Mayor Scott further added that these social gaming companies are targeting locals who are at-risks and profiting, while skipping regulation.

The city further warned that no company “gets to profit here while flouting our laws and endangering our residents.”

Lawsuit Raised Plenty of Red Flags

The DiCello-Levitt-led complaint highlight a few crucial points against the listed social casino operators.

• Listed social casino operators run illegal gambling operations by adopting a “dual-currency” system. According to the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency, this model integrate three elements of gambling- consideration, chance, and prize.

• These gaming platforms are not legally authorized to operate in the state since casino gambling is only allowed at six regulated physical sites

• The sweepstakes casinos deceptively market their website as sources of “social entertainment” or “free games”, even though players will make purchases to fully enjoy the games.

• The games allegedly target young users through vibrant and cartoonish marketing which are shared on YouTube and TikTok

• These platforms rely on weak age-verification checks that are easy to circumvent

According to City Solicitor Ebony M. Thompson with the Baltimore City Law Department, these actions clearly violate the city’s Consumer Protection laws

The complaint seeks civil penalties, injunctive relief, and restitution for affected players, and possibly return of unethically-gained profits.

REFERENCES

• Baltimore complaint