Swedish regulator temporarily revokes Charm Entertainment AB’s casino licence following investigation 

The Swedish Gambling Authority (Spelinspektionen) has issued a temporary revocation of Charm Entertainment AB’s licence to operate commercial land-based casino gaming, requiring the immediate cessation of all licensed activities. 

The decision, dated 1 October 2026, will remain in effect pending a final ruling or until 1 April 2027 at the latest.

Spelinspektionen initiated a supervisory investigation into Charm Entertainment AB on 27 May 2026, focusing on the company’s compliance with the Swedish Gambling Act and related tax, accounting and bookkeeping legislation. 

The regulator scrutinised annual reports submitted by Charm for the years 2023 through 2025 and reviewed materials pertaining to an ongoing criminal preliminary investigation that was heard before Södertälje District Court.

Reasons for licence suspension

The regulator cited several grounds for its decision, stating there are “probable reasons” to believe that Charm no longer fulfils the statutory requirements for holding a licence.

Current and former executives associated with Charm have been charged with serious offences, including aggravated accounting crimes, connected to Lucky 21 Casino AB, a previously licensed casino operator.

Both companies operate in closely situated locations and share much of the same personnel. This suggested that illicit or improper practices identified in Lucky 21 may have persisted in Charm operations.

Investigations revealed discrepancies in Charm’s annual accounts, notably the submission of two separate filings for the 2023 financial year, raising substantial concerns about the integrity of their bookkeeping compliance.

Continued misconduct

Spelinspektionen highlighted the severity of the alleged crimes and the involvement of overlapping individuals between Lucky 21 and Charm. 

Given the risk of continued misconduct, the regulator determined that an immediate suspension was essential to prevent gambling activity from enabling criminal behaviour or operating under deficient accounting standards.

Although subject to appeal, the revocation can last up to six months initially, with a possible six-month extension under special circumstances.

In recent months, Spelinspektionen had its fine of Malta-based online operator LeoVegas reversed. 

The fine was handed down for purported violations of Sweden’s Gambling Act duty of care provisions. 

But the court found that the evidence against LeoVegas was unambiguous. The ruling, issued on 12 June, fully reversed the earlier regulatory sanction following an extensive review of the evidence and legal arguments presented by the operator.