Sportingbet was part of a 2008 court investigation in Turkey.  Despite the legal matter being closed and the case ended Sportingbet is now back in court.  In 2008 two Turkish nationals living in the UK were brought into court and put on trial.  It seemed the trouble was over and Sportingbet would be able to go back to making money legally in the online casino gambling world.  However, 3 of the company’s employees are now in court.  These employees have been brought up on charges having to do with the Turkish market.

Sportingbet does not have a physical presence in Turkey.  However, the employees have created an interface to use the Turkish language.  It also makes their interface quite popular since Turkey is one of four top markets for online casinos at the moment.  The other three are Greece, Australia, and Spain.  Turkey has a ban on internet gambling.  This is why Sportingbet based in the UK is being scrutinized for their involvement in allowing online casino players from Turkey to get on their site.  Even though the company doesn’t have operations in Turkey the language interface makes it possible for online players to breach laws.

Turkey has stated that Sportingbet is in violation of proper gambling laws as it pertains to the country, since the Turkey language interface is definitely aimed for Turkish nationals.  Of course, Sportingbet has stated that they have multiple players from all over in markets they are allowed in which need the Turkish language.

The original case was passed up by Istanbul High Criminal Court due to a lack of jurisdiction for the matter.  No names or details in the original case were ever released, but the new case is somewhat different.  It is also important that in 2008 Sportingbet lost 7 percent of their market value due to the case.  Their share prices went down as the battle was waged.

The 3 employees being brought up for charges in the new case are not expected in the court.  The hearing will be closed, but Sportingbet will have representatives there to help their side.  They stated that the group has been given advice to be prosecuted outside of Turkey.  It is also thought the extradition from the UK is not going to happen.  The courts in Turkey may find yet again that they have no jurisdiction.  There seems to always be a fine line between what can be done in online casinos, and what laws cannot be broken.